Harry Potter: Raven
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Summary: .AU. Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived. Harry Potter is the most powerful being of his generation. Harry Potter is the son of the demon Trigon. He is Raven of the Teen Titans. CHP 18 UP!
1. Dementors Are Dark, But Harry's Darker

A/N: I'm writing this as future material/setup for a big crossover I'm planning, but if I get the right kind of response, I'll continue it. And probably even if I don't. I write for writing's sake. Mostly. It's still nice to get reviews, though.

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 1: 'Prologue' or 'Dementors Are Dark, But Harry's Darker...'

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or Teen Titans (any incarnation). However, I one day hope to fix that by buying Time-Warner.

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The Dementors surrounded them as Harry and Hermione stood by Sirius. Icy cold tried to penetrate Harry's insides. Resolutely, he ignored it, pushing it down with shear force of will. Emotion was useless. It had no place in his magic. Emotion was nothing. There was only control.

"Hermione, think of something happy," Harry said, raising his voice slightly, but not changing his tone, which remained flat, even, and slightly throaty. He ignored the faint screaming in his mind, ignored the images of blood and darkness, of fists striking a young boy. Control. There was only control...

Raising his wand, he said the words Lupin had taught him, knowing they would be worse than useless. He wasn't thinking of any happy thoughts. "Expecto patronum. Expecto patronum."

At his feet, Black gave a shudder, rolled over and lay motionless on the ground, unconscious.

Harry's eyes flicked momentarily in the man's direction, and for a moment, something that might have been pity stirred in the boy, before it was ruthlessly crushed. Control. "Help me, Hermione. Expecto patronum. Expecto patronum."

"Expecto-" Hermione whispered, "expecto- expecto-"

Harry mentally wrote off any help from her, a nano-second of annoyance crushed as ruthlessly as the pity. After a few more moments later, Harry felt more then saw Hermione collapse, unconscious, joining Sirius into sweet oblivion. That was all Harry had been waiting for.

Tucking his wand back into his robes, he raised his arms in front of him. His eyes glowed white as pearly energy aura-ed around his hands. Opening his mouth, he spoke his true words of power, letting a little of his suppressed emotion rise to add extra juice. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos!"

A dark nimbus of energy blasted the Dementors away as Harry waved his hands. Yet he knew it was a futile gesture. It would only take a moment for the Dementors to adjust, before they started to feed on his emotions again and destabilize his magic. But a moment was all that was needed.

Drawing out his wand once more, he raised it, this time thinking the closest thing he had to a happy thought, no matter how much it was against his nature. "Expecto patronum."

The water in the lake exploded in various spots, some trees were crushed into splinters and a few Dementors were blown to bits as if from a bomb blast. Yet Harry ignored these side effects as he focused his diamond-hard concentration on his spell. From his wand, an enormous bird appeared, formed from silver mist. The Patronus glowed in the dark as it drove the Dementors off, flying around its creator in protective circles. Eventually, they went away.

Harry allowed himself as sigh. Raising his arm, he allowed his namesake to perch on it. For a moment, he stared into its four red eyes. Them everything that had happened that night finally caught up with him, and he collapsed next to the other two, no longer willing to keep himself going. As he fell, the raven Patronus disappeared.

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Harry Potter was not normal. Not just because he was a wizard. Not just because he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. Not because he was prophesied to one day kill Voldemort.

He was not the son of James and Lily Potter. They found him on their doorstep one morning, and took him in. From the start, they loved him as their own. Lily was sterile, a problem even wizard medicine couldn't solve, and so she rejoiced in her good fortune at finding this child.

Yet even at the very beginning, there was something off about the boy, whom they named Harry. Whenever he was upset, things tended to break, either exploding or getting crushed. Of course, this was brushed off as accidental magic. Even at such an early age, it wasn't uncommon, since infants had more potent emotions with which to cause accidental magic. In fact, the spell most used by newly-parent wizards and witches was _Repairo_.

But the accidents were usually more violent than was usual for accidental magic. Moreover, the things that got destroyed usually glowed black before meeting their end, something that puzzled the Potters, and by extension, their close friends, greatly. And always, the end result of the accidental magic was something being destroyed. Not having his bottle refilled, or bringing a favorite toy to him. In each and every instance, the end result was something being crushed, bent, melted, ripped apart, and, in some instances, blown up. And always, the thing glowed black before its demise.

Still, the Potters didn't think too much of this. After all, being beginning parents, they assumed this was normal for all magical babies. Their only fear was that the person who left Harry at their doorstep would one day come to reclaim him.

In a way, they were lucky. They never lived to see that day. Voldemort made sure of that.

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Harry Potter shivered. He was a freak. Just as his uncle had always said.

Barely an hour ago, at the ripe old age of three, he had killed the Dursleys.

He hadn't meant to. He had known even before he could talk, even before he could reason, that he was different. He had to be blind not to. He made things happen. Things broke because of him. He never touched them when they broke, but everyone knew it was him. Who else could it be but the freak? He tried to stop it, of course. Every time he saw something was about to break, he'd try to stop it. He'd take a deep breath, and try to stop himself from feeling so sad, or lonely, or helpless, or hurt, or- rarely but it sometimes happened- happy. And sometimes it worked. Sometimes.

Not always, though.

When that happened, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would get mad at him. They yell at him, and call him things he didn't understand but knew were mean. But this just made it harder to stop it. When he tried telling them that, they just get madder and they'd start hitting him. And they'd keep doing this and it would usually make it stop somehow. And then they'd lock him under the stairs, where he couldn't cry because it would just make things break again, and he didn't want them to hit him anymore.

That morning, he had been cooking breakfast, trying to do it right so Aunt Petunia wouldn't yell at him, trying not to break anything, when flying oil had burned his hand. He had gasped and broke the jar of marmalade in front of Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon had gotten mad, and had started yelling at him after he had laughed and broken more things. But Harry couldn't stop breaking things, which had made Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia mad, and made him scared, and made him break more things. They started hitting him to make him stop, but he couldn't.

He broke the house.

When he'd seen what he'd done, he'd ran, and ran, and, ran, until he couldn't run anymore...

Now, far away, he shivered as he remembered the Dursleys bloody faces. He wasn't afraid he'd break anything. He felt empty, and he never broke anything when he was empty. It was the only time he was safe. He didn't like being empty, but if he couldn't break anything, no one would hurt him.

Harry huddled in the cluster of trees. He'd never been out of the house before. He'd gone here because it was a bit dark, and smelled like his cupboard, the one he'd broken with the rest of the house.

As he lay there, something happened. Trembling, more from adrenaline than emotion, Harry looked up as a white swirl appeared in front of him. Out of it stepped a woman wearing a robe and a gentle smile. She held out her hand to the young boy, who flinched out of reflex, causing a nearby twig to twitch slightly.

"Don't be afraid," the woman said. "We want to help you."

Harry huddled into a tighter ball.

"It's alright, little one," she said, moving a little closer. "You're safe."

"Not safe," Harry muttered. "Break things."

"We can help you, little one. We can teach you so you won't break things anymore."

Harry looked up slightly. "Teach me be empty when want?"

The woman seemed to hesitate, but nodded, sympathy evident in her eyes.

Hesitantly, Harry took her hand. "Who you?"

The woman led him towards the swirl, wrapping him in a cloak she had brought along. "My name is Azar..."

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Albus Dumbledore was sitting contently at his desk, dealing with some of the paper work that came up during the day-to-day business of running Hogwarts, when professor McGonagall burst into the room.

"Albus, it's horrible... I just heard..." she panted, leaning against the chair the Headmaster kept for guests. She had obviously run all the way to his office. That immediately alarmed Dumbledore, since McGonagall was one of the most composed people he knew.

"Minerva, what is it?" he said, guiding her down to the chair. She seemed too overwhelmed to do it herself.

"Albus, Harry Potter... his relatives house, Albus... it's been completely destroyed!"

Even as this news reached one of the most powerful sorcerers on the planet, Harry Potter was already gone.

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: Trelawney made a slightly different prophecy. By replacing a single word, this can be made to fit. Instead of '_Born to those that have thrice defied him_', it was '_Son to those that have thrice defied him_'. And 'poof', Harry doesn't have to be the Potters biological son.

Man, I hate shorties. Sorry if it's disjointed, but that's how it came to me.

Please review, C&C welcome. Heck, even flames are welcome. That means at least it's being read, if not liked.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	2. The Demon Boy Who Lived

A/N: It's September 29th, 2005. My Birthday! Whoopee for me! And as a special treat for my readers, here's the very long chapter 2 of HP:R! You guys asked for it...

-_Cheers! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you..._-

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 2: The-Demon-Boy-Who-Lived...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or Teen Titans (any incarnation). I wish I did. Fleur, Ginny, Hermione, Wonder Girl II, Speedy II, Starfire, Terra, and especially Raven are **_HOT!_** Now if they'll just admit Batgirl, Supergirl, Stargirl and Mary Marvel... -_drool_-

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Harry stayed in Azarath until he was eight years old. While there, Azar, as promised, taught him 'how to be empty'. She taught him three words, each with their own meaning, which would eventually become his words of power.

The words were: Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos.

Azarath meant he should be like the world he was in. For Azarath was pure, untainted by evil, where the people devoted themselves to pursuing their spirituality. Azarath was small— you could walk from one end of it to the other in a week— yet beautiful. The trees always bloomed with fruits and flowers, the water was clean enough to drink, and there was no evil. And so, Harry meditated to make himself like that. He calmed himself, trying to be as calm as Azarath was beautiful. It helped that laws said no one must disturb him. No one in Azarath was allowed to disturb him, nor show emotion towards him, nor lead him to emotion. And no one did. None wanted to die, however accidentally, by his power.

Metrion meant middle, or center. Once he had calmed himself, he must find his center, expelling all emotion, gathering to his center only the things that were him. Everything else, all emotion, remains outside, away from him, not affecting him. He made himself the center devoid of emotion, keeping his power under his control by not feeding it.

Zinthos. When the other two have been accomplished, he raises his inner self bringing it as high as he could, to it's zenith, attaining ultimate calm, peace, and emptiness.

Again and again, he learned to repeat these stages, since Zinthos lasts only a few moments, before it fades and he must begin again. In teaching him this, Azar kept her promise. She had taught him to be empty.

Yet this was not all he learned. With Azar's help, he learned the other facets of his power. He learned to heal, and to move without moving, by merely focusing his mind on himself, and directing his power to move himself. Through Azar, he learned he could do more than break.

Through Azar, he learned the truth about himself.

Azar possessed a magic pool, which could be used to show nearly anything. Through it, Harry learned of Earth, of the world that he had been found. He learned of Muggles, and of wizards, of heroes and villains, of the things that could be seen.

He learned of his mother, a young muggleborn witch. Of Trigon, his sire. Of how his mother took refuge in Azarath, dying as she gave him birth. Of how, in her death throes, she had sent him to live on Earth, and chance had led him to be found by the Potters.

Azar told him of the name his birth mother had given him, Raven, after a bird that haunted her during the last days before she was taken by Trigon.

For the next five years of his life, Raven was content. He could not be happy, but he was as close as he dared.

It did not last.

Trigon, seeking his heir, attacked Azarath, bringing with him his demon hoards. It was only thanks to Azar, and to a lesser degree Raven, that they were not immediately wiped out. Still, for the first time in Azarath, there was death.

In the end, Azar managed to seal Trigon away where he could never touch the worlds again, banishing him to from where he may never return. Yet the price was high. A mere handful remained of those in Azarath, and Azar herself was mortally drained. With her dying breaths, Azar warned Raven that Trigon was not yet truly defeated. Trigon might still escape his prison if Raven were to lose control of his powers and give in to his dark side. And Raven had held Azar's hand and tried to heal her, even though he knew it would be useless. On her bedside, he swore never to let Trigon loose, ever again. And Azar had smiled and, breaking the law of Azarath, the law she herself had proclaimed, she told him she loved him as a son, and that her dying wish was for him to be happy.

When Azar died, Raven went to the farthest, most isolated, mountainous, untamed corner of Azarath, and wept for three days. He wept for the mother who had raised him, and for the happiness he might never know. He wept for the dead of Azarath, who outnumbered the living by the scores. He wept for the second family he had lost, for the second home he had destroyed by his mere presence, by his mere existence. When he was done, the corner of Azarath was completely bare. The once indomitable mountains there were dust. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing. And it became known in Azarath as the Desert of Sorrow.

After three days, Raven returned home, to the place where he had lived with Azar, and began to pack. An hour later, after paying his last respects to the second woman he could ever honestly call mother, he left Azarath. He took with him only his blue cloak, made of the silk of spiders and stronger than steel yet warmer than fur, and enchanted to repair itself, with a clasp made from a single ruby set in gold, a gift from Azar; his meditation mirror, another gift; a crystal ball filled with water from Azar's enchanted pool; a few changes of what could pass as Earth clothes; and all the books in the dwelling.

When Raven left for Earth dressed in the same shirt he had worn when he first came, none cheered, yet all eyes were dry. Although none blamed him, none were sorry to see him go.

In what was once the dwelling of Raven and Azar, the enchanted pool was empty, all it's water sunk back into the ground.

And in what would be the Desert of Sorrow, a small spring grew where Raven had wept...

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Nearly three years later...

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Raven looked at the owl calmly, slightly puzzled. Over the past three years, he'd been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things. He'd been to the city of Gotham, and seen the Dark Knight himself, without being seen. He had met a monster who pretended to be a boy named Klarion. He'd learned about Earth, learning the ways of the places he found himself. Every so often he would find himself in need, and thus learned of the concept of money. Since, in Azarath, they ate only what was necessary, and seldom meat, he managed to survive while eating little. He had mostly wandered through Europe and North America. He'd seen a lot of things that most hitchhikers and backpackers would have needed a decade to see, been around to witness some of the first superheroes make their debut. Some of the first supervillains, too. But he had never, _ever_ seen an owl fly up to him carrying an envelope.

A normal person would have shrugged before reaching for the envelope, but Raven didn't. Such gestures were needless emotional responses, and Raven did not _have _emotional responses. There was only control...

As soon as he took the envelope, the bird took off. Raven noted the direction it was flying, but otherwise ignored it. He turned the envelope over in his hands. It was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment. In front was a purple seal bearing what Raven recognized as some kind of coat of arms. On the other side was the following address: _Mr. H. Potter, 339 Rose Avenue, Wayne Courts, Gotham City._

If it weren't for his years of self-control, Raven might have reacted. As it was, the only effect of seeing a name he hadn't used since he was five was the introduction of barely twenty nanograms of adrenaline into his system. Nothing more. Calmly, Raven opened the envelope, pulling out two sheets of parchment. One was a list, which he ignored for now. The other one was a letter.

After reading it twice to ensure he hadn't misunderstood anything, Raven glanced at the calendar his current host kept in the kitchen, which indicated the date was July the twenty-ninth. After much traveling, he had established a few acquaintances in a few areas who usually allowed him to stay with them in exchange for a few chores. Pamela and her friend and occasional roommate Harlene were two of them. They were currently sleeping for now, tired from a night of evading the legendary Batman. Although they knew he knew about them, and occasionally help tend their wounds, they never tried to embroil them in their schemes, for which he was grateful. In exchange for food and lodgings, he did little chores for them, such as maintaining the garden (if they had one at the time), making meals, and generally taking care of the current house or hideout. Sometimes, they'd even give him a little money. Of course, they'd get caught eventually, and Raven usually disappeared by then. But whenever he returned to Gotham and they weren't in jail, he always managed to find them.

Raven had been in the middle of cooking breakfast when the owl came. Putting down the letter, he finished the preparations, considering the letter's contents all the while. While a bit of a surprise— he knew nearly nothing of wizarding society, except it existed— it was not entirely unexpected. He was, after all, half human, and he knew that half came from a witch, so logically, he was a wizard.

By the time an hour rolled by, Raven had reached a decision. By the time Pamela Iseley entered the kitchen fifteen minutes later, he was already gone. The only sign he had even been there were the slowly cooling plates of food on the kitchen table (next to last night's loot), the pristine condition of the hideout, and the small 'thank you' note next to the loose and bound bills on the table.

Iseley shook her head. Typical Raven. She was willing to bet the money was untouched too, not one bill missing.

Still, it didn't hurt to make sure...

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When Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall entered the latter's office to retrieve some paperwork that needed to be signed, they were naturally surprised to find a dark-haired youth in a blue cloak standing in the middle of her office, quietly observing his surroundings. At their entrance, the boy turned towards them.

"Who are you?" McGonagall asked ass Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "How did you get in here?"

"Are you Minerva McGonagall?" the boy asked, his face partially shadowed by his hood, so that only the lower part of his face was visible, deep blue, nearly purple eyes barely visible. His voice was low, monotone, and slightly throaty. In a girl, it might even be called husky. Unknown to either professor, it was a permanent remnant of his three days of weeping.

"Yes," she said, "and I demand to know why you are here!"

In answer, he took out the form letter he had received and handed it to her. McGonagall took one look at the addressee, and her jaw dropped. She had time to exchange looks between him and the letter before she fainted.

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose again. "Dear, dear, that must be quite a shock, your letter," he said as he bent down and waved his wand over the unconscious McGonagall. "What is your name, child?"

"Raven Azar," the boy said, observing the proceedings detachedly as McGonagall began to revive.

McGonagall took one look at the boy and nearly fainted again. "**_GREAT MERLIN'S BEARD!_**" she exclaimed.

"What on Earth is the matter, professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore asked.

McGonagall pointed a shaking finger at the boy. "Harry Potter! That boy is Harry Potter!"

Dumbledore blinked, then looked at the boy. Wordlessly, the boy pulled back his hood, revealing a blank face, and lifted his dark purple, nearly black fringe. A lightning bolt scar was clearly visible on his forehead against his pale, gray skin.

Dumbledore felt a sudden urge to faint as McGonagall went under once again.

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Had he been anyone else, Raven would have sighed in exasperation. As it was, the only reaction he had was an urge to blink. The woman McGonagall had finally revived and managed not to faint when she laid eyes on him. The two of them wouldn't stop staring at him, however. It would have been annoying if he were capable of being annoyed. They, or at least, the old man Dumbledore, had performed all manner of wand-waving magical tests on him to ascertain his identity, all of which he had passed with flying colors. He _was_ Harry Potter, after all, even if no one had called him that since he was three. As soon as Azar had told him his birth name, Raven had been what he had been called, to distance the memories he had of the Dursleys so they wouldn't interfere with his meditation.

"Well?" Raven said. "Are you satisfied as to my identity?"

Dumbledore nodded, his wand shaking. "Yes. According to all my tests, you are indeed Harry Potter."

McGonagall, who had collapsed onto her chair a while ago, made a sighing sound and looked like she was going to faint all over again.

Raven nodded. "Very well. Now, I would like to inquire as to the contents of this letter," he said, indicating the one he had handed McGonagall. "I did not have an owl, so I thought it would be better if I delivered my response myself."

"What exactly would you like to know?" Dumbledore said. The Headmaster, while calmer, wasn't exactly on steady ground himself. He wouldn't be, after meeting a person— a famous person— thought dead for the past eight years.

Raven indicated the second sheet in the envelope he had received. "How exactly am I to procure the following items? I know of no shop that sells them, and even if I did, I have no money with which to pay. I had hoped you would enlighten me as to that point."

All of Dumbledore's old teachers' instincts came to the fore at the direct question. "There is a place in London where all these things are available. As to money, your parents set up an account for you when you were born-"

"Found," Harry corrected. "I was adopted."

Dumbledore blinked. "How-"

"Irrelevant. Please continue," Harry said.

Shaken, Dumbledore did just that. "Yes, well, your parents set up an account for you a few days after they adopted you. Even though you are— were— believed to be dead, Gringotts policy is to maintain an account in case of any unknown heirs. It would be possible to arrange for you to be able to access your account— I believe I have the key somewhere— but they are already closed at this hour."

Raven nodded. "I see. Would it be possible to arrange a guide? I am ignorant as to the workings of wizarding society."

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "I know just the man. Be here tomorrow morning and all will be arranged."

Raven nodded again, raising his hood over his face. "Thank you. I will return in the morning."

Silently, he glided towards the door. His hand was raised towards the knob when McGonagall finally got the nerve to say something.

"How did you get in my office?"

Raven paused. "I walked," he said, and slipped out the door.

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Later that night, Dumbledore and McGonagall took a perverse pleasure in seeing their fellow teachers nearly faint when they broke the news that Harry Potter wasn't really dead and that he had walked the halls of Hogwarts itself that very afternoon. The only teachers missing and didn't hear the news were Snape and Quirrell.

That was okay, since at least five of the teachers, including Dumbledore himself, immediately sent an owl to the Daily Prophet. There were a lot of fainting spells _there _too. Come morning, nearly every reader of the morning wizarding newspaper took one look at the front page and spat out whatever it was that was in their mouth at the time. Those with nothing in their mouths gagged on their tongues. Quite a handful again fainted. Once that was done, the general mood of the wizarding world took on the feeling of a party, not unlike the mood ten years ago when they heard Voldemort had been vanquished. None went around in Muggle-public wearing robes, but lots of feasts, parties and whatnot broke out and lasted the entire day. Thankfully, no businesses closed, since the owners could party quite well on the job, but things weren't exactly a normal business day.

On the night of the meeting, however, after he had sent an owl to the Daily Prophet, only then did Dumbledore have an opportunity to think about what it meant that Harry was still alive. The official report eight years ago had been that Harry Potter had destroyed his relatives' house in a burst of accidental magic, killing himself with them, yet his body had never been found. Some people and publications— the Quibbler, for instance— maintained this was proof that Harry Potter was still alive, causing much heckling from the rest of the community. Dumbledore smiled, knowing that by morning those people would be doing a lot of self-satisfied smirking.

Yet that didn't explain a lot of things, such as where he had been, and how he had survived all this time. How had he managed to get to Hogwarts, for that matter. It was a can of worms with a lot of room, but for now, Dumbledore was merely glad what the wizarding community had feared happened eight years ago hadn't come to pass. He would worry about the matter of arranging Harry's safety later. The only reason he had sent the boy to the Dursleys had been because he had hoped that, being his mother's son, however adopted, the Dursleys would take care of him. That hadn't happened. He had been about to remove Harry from there when his apparent death had occurred and rendered the matter moot.

Later, Dumbledore would worry about arranging for Harry's safety. Later, he would consider telling him about Voldemort, and about the prophecy and the burden on his shoulders. Later. For now, having already arranged for Hagrid to take Harry to Diagon Alley the following day, Dumbledore grabbed one of his packages of lemon drops and headed for the impromptu party the staff were holding downstairs. For now, for the professor, it was party time!

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The following day, just as everyone was getting their Daily Prophets and spit-taking the contents of their mouths, Raven was walking up the driveway to Hogwarts. He had spent the previous night in a cave he had found in the nearby mountains, as he had little use for creature comforts, and so had not tried to book a room in the inn. He suspected the money he carried wouldn't be accepted anyway.

When he arrived at the front door, he saw Dumbledore with a man that could only be described as a giant. Raven didn't hesitate when he saw him. He just continued to walk up the path with the same smooth, flowing, gliding, even pace as before. As usual, he was wearing his blue cloak, which seemed to have grown to fit him over the years, since it was still as floor length as it was when he was eight years old, even though time had passed. He inclined his head politely at the professor, the movement just noticeable from under his hood.

"Harry, this is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds here at Hogwarts. He will be accompanying you to Diagon Alley," Dumbledore said, indicating the large man beside him.

Raven nodded again, this time to Hagrid, who seemed to be smiling broadly through his thick beard. "Call me Hagrid, Harry, everybody does. Been a long time since I've seen yeh. Thought you wer dead, what with what happen'd tuh the Dursleys eight years ago-"

"Hagrid," Dumbledore interrupted, and the big man stopped, looking a bit embarrassed that he had almost mentioned what could have been a painful memory.

Raven nodded placidly. The pain associated with the memories of the Dursleys was long gone, removed after his long meditations. The guilt for their deaths, however, was something he kept to remind himself of the price of losing control. "Shall we go?"

Dumbledore nodded, and he and Hagrid led him inside the school to the teachers lounge on the first floor, which was empty but bore the signs of having been the site of one heck of a party. "You'll be traveling by Floo Powder to the Leaky Cauldron, and from there you can go to Diagon Alley."

Quickly, Dumbledore explained the use of the green dust, while Raven stood by patiently. It would have been faster for him to just teleport them to wherever this place was— the wards around Hogwarts didn't block that aspect of his power in the least, as he had unwittingly learned yesterday when he had teleported in— but his experiences had taught Raven that it was safer to keep his powers concealed from others. In the whole of Earth, only four people knew of his powers: a woman in San Francisco named Zatanna, a drunk who had seen him come from Azarath and had probably dismissed it as a liquor induced dream, an old woman he had healed and was convinced he was an angel, and a young blonde girl named Tara Markov, whom he had traveled with for a few months after he had arrived before they had parted ways, each believing their powers were a danger to the other. The few times he had used his powers in public had caused panics he had decided he could do without.

As Raven was about to enter the grate after Hagrid, Dumbledore said, "A moment if you please, Harry."

Raven turned to him, waiting patiently.

"Why did you introduce yourself as Raven Azar yesterday?" Dumbledore asked.

Raven paused a moment, considering his answer. "That is what I have been called since I left the Dursleys. Azar was the name of the one who took care of me. She's dead now, and I use the name in honor of her memory. Although you may call me Harry, if you prefer. It makes no difference to me."

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I see. Thank you for enlightening me, Harry."

Raven nodded and reached for the Floo powder.

Using Floo powder wasn't a very pleasant experience, not that Raven cared. Emerging from the fireplace, he dusted off his cloak. Hagrid 'helped' him by brushing his shoulders, nearly causing Raven to stumble, although it managed to make most of the soot to fall off.

The place he found himself could have been described as dark and shabby if it weren't for the warm, jovial, excited atmosphere permeating it. People were talking excitedly, showing each other the newspaper or waving it around in the air. Some people greeted Hagrid, but the rest were too busy with their discussions to notice.

"Hagrid!" an old man who looked like a walnut, and whom Raven assumed was the barman, greeted, waving a newspaper over his head. "Have you heard?"

"Heard it last night, Tom," Hagrid answered as he walked over, Raven following in his wake. "Heard it from Dumbledore 'imself. Nearly fainted, let me tell yeh."

"But do you think it's true, Hagrid?" Tom said, leaning over the counter. "I'm mean, what if it's just some fake?"

Hagrid laughed, clapping his hand on Raven's shoulder, nearly causing him to wince. "Well, why don' yeh ask Harry 'ere if he is, eh?"

The whole pub suddenly went silent at those words. Raven felt everyone staring at him.

The rest of what happened was a bit of a blur to Raven. After showing his scar to prove his identity, everyone in the bar wanted to shake hands with him. Tom declared the drinks on the house, and the whole establishment took on the atmosphere of a party. It was all rather confusing, however, and Raven was only able to remember it all clearly after meditation. The clearest memory he had afterwards was being introduced to professor Quirell, just before being taken to the courtyard at the back.

"Hagrid," Raven asked the man as soon as they were out, "why did all those people want to shake hands with me?"

"'Cause you're famous, Harry," Hagrid said, taking out his umbrella and beginning to tap the bricks on the wall.

"Why?"

"Don' think I'm the best person teh answer that, Harry," Hagrid said, about to tap the final brick.

A hand on his arm stopped him. "But you know. Please, tell me."

Hagrid fidgeted. "Harry…"

"Please?"

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Eventually, Hagrid broke. He told Harry about Voldemort. About how he had killed the Potters ten years ago, how he had tried to kill Harry as well. Everything he knew. And through it all, Harry's face was completely blank. There wasn't a single flicker of expression, not one tear, nothing. His face was as smooth as if Hagrid were talking about the weather. He just looked at Hagrid, eyes never blinking, until Hagrid finished his story. Then he just nodded and said, "I see," and said they had better go on to Diagon Alley. Hagrid wondered what had happened to Harry that he would turn out like this.

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Raven, however, wasn't exactly as calm as Hagrid thought. Inside, emotions were bubbling, emotions so long unused, that Raven barely remembered which one was which. Only force of habit let him maintain his smooth exterior. For the first time in a very long time, he made himself go back, back before his memories of the Dursleys. He remembered the Potters, Lily's green eyes, James' unruly dark hair. He remembered a feeling that he had seldom felt at the Dursleys, only approached on Azarath: happiness. It was a dim memory, one by rights he shouldn't even have, but did. Whether it was because of his demon blood or meditation, he did not know. He knew only that he had them.

Voldemort. He remembered the name, repeated it to himself. Voldemort. The name now shared a place with that of Trigon. He vaguely remembered him as well, the face hazy, even before a burst of green light, a cloud of terror, and the memory of pain overtook it. Yet he knew that if he ever saw it again, he would recognize it.

So deep were his thoughts as he followed Hagrid on automatic that he didn't notice anything as they walked down Diagon Alley to Gringotts. He didn't notice people looking at him strangely before moving on. After all, it was too warm for a cloak, especially one with the hood up. But with the hood up, no one could see the first spark of emotion to burn in his eyes in nearly three years, since he had realized Trigon was responsible for his adoptive mother's death, since he had realized nearly half the pain in his life was caused by his sire. No one saw the flames of hate. He had just learned who was responsible for the other half...

"'Ere we are, Harry!" Hagrid said, breaking Raven out of his reverie, the emotion he had unknowingly felt disappearing before he realized it was there. He followed Hagrid into the large building, while behind him, store owners fixed the broken windows that had all exploded suddenly with no explanation.

About half an hour later, Raven and Hagrid stepped back out into the sunshine, Raven considerably richer, Hagrid looking mildly green. As Hagrid went to get a 'pick-me-up' in the Leaky Cauldron, Raven, after getting directions, decided to buy his school supplies. By the time Hagrid found him again, he'd bought a decent number of parchment rolls, a handful of quills, a collapsible telescope, a sturdy set of scales, and a cauldron.

Raven accepted the ice-cream Hagrid offered him, saying a quiet thanks, before tentatively tasting the snack. The Dursleys had never given him any ice-cream, not surprisingly, and there hadn't been any on Azarath. During his journeys on Earth for the last couple of years, he had somehow managed to miss out on it.

For as long as he lived, Raven never forgot his first taste of ice-cream. It tasted like nothing he had ever encountered. It felt like he was in a perpetual state of Zinthos. The whole world vanished around him as the flavor made itself known on his tongue, spreading a wave of pleasure all through his body.

All Raven said, however, was, "This is nice".

Finishing their snack, Hagrid took Raven off to be measured for robes. As they were about to enter Madam Malkin's store, however, a boy with a pale, pointed face, blond hair, and a haughty expression came out, pushing his way past Hagrid and Raven without so much as a word. Raven didn't even glance at the boy, promptly forgetting about him as he entered the store. Rude people really weren't his concern.

After finishing with the robe fittings, they visited the apothecary's, where they loaded up on potion ingredients. When that was done, Hagrid checked Raven's list.

"Just yer wand and books left— oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

Raven, who only had vague memories of Dudley's birthdays, and who distinctly remembered only an unpleasant feeling from the memories of his birthdays with the Dursleys— that, and the date of his birthday, which he belatedly realized was today— turned his head fractionally to Hagrid. "That's not necessary-"

"I know it's not. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not toads, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at— and an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin'."

And that's how Raven met Hedwig. Raven gravely thanked Hagrid, who was beginning to realize that the silent boy meant more by his simplest words than most children, and knew that the quiet words were heartfelt.

They were on their way to pick up Raven's school books when Raven asked how he was going to keep all this, which promptly took them on a detour to buy Raven a trunk. When Hagrid asked him about this, Raven merely said that he had no permanent residence, so he had no need of such things. It was a half-truth; the books, clothes and crystal ball, he kept in his mind, via the meditation mirror he always kept on his person; he never let his cloak out of his sight.

It was at Flourish and Blott's was where Raven allowed himself to cut loose just a tiny bit. Besides his required books, Raven also bought a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_, _Curses and Counter-Curses, _and _The Standard Book of Spells_, grades two to seven. It was Raven's only vice; he loved to read.

Meeting with Mr. Ollivander, Raven was mildly surprised, not by the old man's entrance, but by the fact that the man was nearly as quiet as him. Raven was about to pay for his wand when a familiar 'feeling' came over him. As Ollivander was wrapping his wand in brown paper, Raven followed the sense to the back of the store. A few moments later, he returned, holding a **_very_** old box in his slightly shaking hands.

"Mr. Ollivander," Raven said, laying the box on the counter and drawing out the wand, "what can you tell me about this wand?"

Mr. Ollivander looked at the wand. "Wormwood, thirteen inches. It has a core of a single strand of hair. That one is particularly suited for the Dark Arts, Mr. Potter."

Hagrid looked at the wand in alarm.

Raven looked at the wand briefly, before giving it a wave. Deep red, practically bloody crimson and strange black sparks suddenly shot out of the tip. A red spark settled on the counter, which burst into flames. A black spark landed on the wand's box, immediately causing it to collapse into a ball, crushed.

Ollivander's eyebrows threatened to reach the top of his head. "My word! It seems that wand is better suited for you than this one," he said as he waved the flames away. There was nothing to be done about the box.

"Tell me about the core," Raven said, turning the wand over in his fingers.

Ollivander knit his eyebrows. "This wand was made by an ancestor of mine. Family legend tells that he crafted it using the hair of a demon Merlin had banished to a distant realm with the help of his servants, Etrigan and Axilano. The demon's name has been lost to history, although it is known to be referred to as Scath. I am afraid that is all I know. The study of and association with demons has long been declared a Dark Art."

Raven nodded, moving towards the candle on one end of the counter. "I see. How much for this wand?"

"Twenty Galleons," Ollivander said. "A bit more than usual, but it is a very old and very fine piece of work. Will you be taking it?"

Raven nodded, before taking the wand in both hands and, with a sharp '_crack_', breaking it in two. Pulling out the strand of white hair inside, he held it in the fire. With a burst of flame, the strand erupted, spewing noxious black until the hair was completely consumed. Ollivander looked on with horror.

"Yes," Raven said, reaching for his money pouch. "I'll take it."

Ollivander practically threw them out.

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"Don' see why you had teh go an' do that, Harry," Hagrid said as they trekked back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"I didn't like it," Raven said.

"Stil' no reason teh break a good wand."

"That wand was made with the hair of a demon. There was nothing good about it. You wouldn't understand."

Hagrid sighed, and seemed to decide to drop the subject.

Only Raven knew why he had destroyed the wand. He had heard it calling to him, as blood to blood. Only Raven knew that Scath was a name for Trigon. And he'd be damned if he let anything of Trigon's free to walk the Earth.

_Yet,_ he thought, _doesn't that include me? Am I not his son?_

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Hagrid and Raven Floo-ed back to Hogwarts, where the teachers lounge was still thankfully empty. Raven left the school quickly afterwards, pausing only to thank Hagrid for his assistance and for Hedwig. As soon as he was out of sight of the school, he teleported to the cave in the mountains where he had stayed the night before.

Taking out his mirror, Raven closed his eyes and began to meditate...

That was where he stayed for most of the month He passed his time by reading all his new books and meditating. Sometimes, he would teleport to Diagon Alley to explore the area. In these expeditions, he always wore his cloak with the hood pulled up. It prevented people from seeing his scar and recognizing him. He found such attention annoying.

It was on one such expedition that he passed by the Magical Menagerie. It was the 'kaw'-ing that attracted him. He had walked over to their display and seen a large cage full of, ironically enough, ravens. As he watched them for a few moments, one caught his eye. It was sitting in a corner of the cage, calmly preening its wing. It wasn't 'kaw'-ing like its fellows, nor joining in any of their games. Raven watched it finish cleaning its wing, and their eyes met.

Ten minutes later, the bird was perched on Raven's finger, its leg tied by a string tied around Raven's wrist. He called her Azar.

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On the first of September, Raven took his trunk from his mind— via the mirror— and teleported to King's Cross station in London. He didn't see the point of taking a train when he could walk to Hogwarts from where he was, but he also saw no point in arguing. He had received his ticket a few days before, and knew where he was supposed to go, although he wasn't sure exactly where.

Having been in London before from his wanderings, he knew where King's Cross was. Wearing only regular clothes, since his cloak would attract too much attention, he headed to platform nine, pushing his trunk in a cart before him, Hedwig's cage on top, and Azar on top of Hedwig's cage. When no platform nine and three-quarters presented itself, Raven closed his eyes, concentrating. His magical sense as something he had developed in Azarath. He could 'feel' magic, to a degree, and could tell if someone was under the influence of magic. The former was how he had found the wand at Ollivander's.

Extending his sense, he felt it brush against _something_. Turning to face it, he opened his eyes. He was looking at a blank piece of wall between platforms nine and ten. Suddenly, something caught his ear.

"—packed with Muggles, of course—"

Raven turned towards the voice. A group of people— a family, he supposed; he wasn't very familiar nor too interested in the concept— all with bright red hair were heading his direction. The four boys with her were all pushing trunks Raven's, and one of them had an owl. Further more, each and every single one of them 'felt' strongly of magic, more than a regular human would. Raven made the logical assumption these people were wizards, or at least, some kind of magic-users. His travels had taught him 'wizardry' wasn't the only kind of magic in the world.

"Excuse me," he said, directing his question at the woman— the mother?— as the group came abreast of him.

"Oh, hullo, dear," she said. Dear? "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too."

Raven nodded politely, if a bit gravely, to the youngest looking boy. Experience had taught him it was best to acknowledge people he was introduced to in any fashion, since the accompanying disturbance if they thought him rude for not doing so was very inconvenient, and annoying. Not that he was the type to get annoyed, of course.

"Can you please tell me how to get to platform nine and three quarters? My letter didn't give any instructions on that regard."

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash, that's very important. Best do it at a run if you're nervous. Watch the boys do it, so you get the idea."

Raven waited patiently as the three older boys went through the barrier before him. Finally, it was his turn. Gravely, he thanked the mother.

He began to walk at a brisk, even pace, heading straight for the barrier. The warnings of being scared or nervous were completely disregarded. He was Raven. His emotions were always completely under his control. He was never scared _or_ nervous. Never…

He passed through the barrier without closing his eyes. Which was a rather disorienting sensation. One moment, he was heading into a brick wall, the next he was passing through the brick wall, and he suddenly found himself in a crowded platform.

Ignoring the crowd, he made his way towards a train carriage. The first few were full, so he quickly breezed through those. Finally, near the very end, he found an empty compartment. Placing Hedwig and Azar inside first, he cautiously looked both ways. Finding everyone close-by too busy minding their own good-byes, he turned to his trunk, his purple eyes narrowing into slits as he raised his hand slightly towards his trunk.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

A white glow began to radiate from his eyes, and another glow around his hand, as he quickly and discretely levitated his trunk into the compartment, saving himself the trouble of carrying it. He didn't know if these peoples magic could manifest itself the way his did— unlikely, given the way they expressed their emotions— so it was best if he kept his powers secret for now until he had more data to draw a conclusion.

Settling into the compartment, he closed the door and drew the covers down. After feeding Hedwig a few owl treats, giving Azar her food, and generally seeing to his familiars' well being, he closed his eyes, crossed his legs, and began to meditate.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion…"

Slowly, he began to float off his seat…

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A few minutes later, Raven was rereading one of his books when the door to his compartment slid open.

"Anyone sitting here?" the boy, whom he recognized as the red-haired woman's son, said, pointing at the seat opposite to Raven. "Everywhere else is full."

Raven made a vague wave in that direction, which the boy took as assent. Sitting down, the boy glanced out the window idly, and started to fidget in that way restless people do.

"So," the boy said, "what's your name?"

Raven frowned internally as he lowered his book slightly, looking at the boy. He really wasn't in the mood to talk— he was _never_ in the mood to talk, actually— but he didn't want to be deliberately rude, either. He opened his mouth, about to give the boy his name— his preferred name, that is— when he changed his mind and decided to use the name Hagrid and everyone else seemed to call him in the wizarding world. "Harry Potter."

The boy's jaw dropped, face paling. "Bloody hell... **_YOU'RE HARRY POTTER?_**"

"Please keep it down," Raven said.

The boy blushed, but said more quietly. "You're Harry Potter?"

Raven nodded.

"The Daily Prophet announced last month you were still alive, but I didn't think… do you really have the scar?"

Wordlessly, Raven raised his fringe, exposing the mark.

The boy whistled. "Wicked!"

"I believe it's your turn to introduce yourself?" Raven said placidly.

The boy blushed again. "Ah, Ron. Ron Weasley."

Raven nodded, waiting expectantly for the boy to continue. When he didn't, Raven turned back to his book. The scenery passed under an uncomfortable silence for a while, on Ron's part, anyway. Raven didn't really care.

Around lunch time, there was a clattering sound outside the corridor, and a woman slid open the door of the compartment. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Raven looked up from his book at that. He hadn't had any breakfast, and barely any dinner yesterday. He was taking it well, but there was a point where even _he_ had to stop controlling his need for bodily requirements and eat something. Going out to the corridor, he peered at the selection, unsure what to get since he was unfamiliar with all the foods. Or at least, they looked like food. He couldn't really be sure.

Buying a little of everything, he returned to the compartment, where Ron was looking at his package of sandwiches with something less than enthusiasm.

"Not hungry?" Raven said as he unwrapped a Pumpkin Pasty and took a tentative bite.

"Uh, no," Ron said. "It's just that I really don't like corned beef."

Wordlessly, Raven offered him a Pasty.

At first, Ron tried to refuse, but when Raven insisted he wouldn't be able to eat it all, the other boy caved in, taking the Pasty happily. Raven didn't have any issues about sharing, unlike other children. His only issue had been when people on the road had given him things that he had been unable to pay back. He didn't like the feeling— there it was again! Mercilessly, he squashed it— of taking without giving something in return. Now, however, as he shared his food with Ron, listening to the boy chatter on pleasantly, he realized why those people had done what they did.

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As Ron talked, and Harry listened politely, there was a knock on the door. The door slid open quickly after. A tearful-looking round-faced boy and a bushy-haired girl already wearing her school robes came in.

"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost one," the girl said.

Ron shook his head. Harry, however, said, "What's your toad's name?"

"T-trevor," the boy said.

They all watched as Harry pulled out his wand. "_Accio Trevor_."

A few seconds later, a large toad flew through the compartment over the heads of those at the door, before coming to rest next to Harry.

"Trevor!" the boy said, reaching for the toad. Harry gave it a stroke before handing it to the boy.

"Wow!" the girl said, obviously impressed. "A summoning charm! That's very advanced magic!"

"Thank you," the boy said as he held his toad.

Harry nodded gravely as he put back his wand. "You're welcome. Who are you?" he asked.

"Neville Longbottom," the boy said.

"Hermione Granger," said the girl.

Harry nodded again, and Ron idly wondered if that was the only gesture he how to do. He hadn't smiled or anything all day, just looked grave and nodded.

The two others waited expectantly but Harry said nothing, which Ron already half-expected. Taking matters into his own hands before things got awkward, he smiled at the two. "Don't mind him, I think he's always like that. I'm Ron Weasley, and he's Harry Potter."

Neville's jaw dropped as he backed away a little, bumping into the seat next to Ron before falling down.

"**_Really_**?" Hermione said, sitting down next to Harry. "I know all about you, of course— I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_, _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_, _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century,_ and _Heroes of the Wizarding World_! But all those books said you were dead!"

"They were mistaken," Harry said, and Ron chortled. He had to hand it to Harry, he managed to say that with a perfectly straight face.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "_Obviously_, although how all those books could get it wrong, I have no idea."

"My gram told me he destroyed his relatives' house and killed everyone inside," Neville blurted out, them paling as he realized what he'd just said.

Ron and Hermione turned to Harry in shock. The girl was obviously surprised. Ron vaguely remembered being told the same thing, but it was something that had slipped his mind. Obviously, the books had never included that particular detail about Harry.

Harry's hands clenched, and he looked down, his dark-purple hair obscuring his eyes. "That was an accident," he said. There was just a hint of tightness in his voice, masked by the throatiness. "It's something I regret to this day. Please never bring it up again."

"S-sorry," Neville said, and Harry nodded. When he finally looked up, his face was as empty as it had always been.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the compartment, broken only by the 'kaw'-ing of a bird.

"Is that a crow?" Ron said, trying to change the subject.

"A raven," Harry said, extending a finger towards the bird, who hopped on to it as the boy started stoking its head. "Her name is Azar."

"Wicked!" Ron said.

The conversation managed to revive from there, passing through discussions about the Hogwarts Houses, the break-in at Gringotts, and had turned to Quidditch when the door opened again. Ron and Neville were describing a famous game they'd both been to, with Hermione only politely interested and Harry nodding gravely as usual when three boys suddenly entered.

"Is it true?" the boy in the middle said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. Which one of you is he?"

"I am," Harry said, giving the three cursory inspections.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," the boy said carelessly. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron coughed, hiding his snigger, causing Malfoy to look at him.

"Let me guess, you're a Weasley. Someone could tell just by looking at your shabby condition." Malfoy turned back to Harry. "You'll find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there," he said, holding out his hand.

Harry looked at it, but didn't take it. "Define better," he said coolly.

"Pureblood, for one thing. Certainly not like this mudblood here," Malfoy said, directing a disdainful look at Hermione.

Both Ron and Neville stood up. "Why you little—" Ron started to say.

"I must decline your offer and ask you to leave," Harry said, interrupting Ron's indignant response. "You are disturbing my companions, and I believe you also insulted Miss Granger. You may stay if you apologize, but somehow I doubt you will."

A pink tinge appeared on Malfoy's cheeks. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and mudbloods and it'll rub off on you."

"If you believe I'm not being polite enough, than I apologize, but I must still insist you either apologize or leave," Harry said, voice still even. "I would prefer the latter, however."

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Harry reached for the partially eaten bag of Chocolate Frogs next to him and held it out to Malfoy. "Take it and go."

Goyle reached for the bag, but before he could touch it, Azar, who had returned to her perch on top of Hedwig's cage, suddenly flew at him, 'kaw'-ing loudly. Goyle stepped back, shielding his face and bumping into Crabbe and Malfoy, forcing them out of the compartment. The three of them disappeared, perhaps afraid more ravens would attack them.

"Wicked!" Ron said as Azar returned to perch on Harry's finger.

"Wow!" Neville said.

"You did well, Azar. My thanks," said Harry, stroking his pet's head once more, the barest ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I'm impressed you didn't lose your temper, Harry. That would have been enough provocation for most people," Hermione said.

"I don't lose my temper," Harry said. Ron could believe it.

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— **To be continued...(bet on it)**

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A/N: _Aaannnndddddd_ **CUT!** I thought that was as good a place as any to stop. Sorting and other clichés next chap, which will be a while. A month at most.

Whoa, twelve reviews for a pilot fic! My best response yet.

I made up the meanings of the words myself, since the cartoon, to the point I've seen anyway, has not given any explanation.

I've taken a lot from comic book canon, though this is set in cartoon canon. Contrary to popular belief, Raven is **_not a telepath!_** In the comics, she is an **_empath_**, meaning she can pick up— and to a degree, manipulate— other people's emotions. She also has healing, flight, can teleport, and her soul is a portal to other dimensions, as well as to a place inside herself.

Cartoon Raven is telekinetic. Again, not a telepath. Healing, flight, and teleportation still seem to be there, but the empathy is gone. She seems to be able to shape shift slightly in 'Red (Almost Demon) Raven' mode. She seems able leave her body and partial-posses people, but she is only a spectator when she does this; to phase through matter, but that's probably only the teleportation; and to 'create' monsters, as in the 'Control Freak' episode. She can also 'sense' things about people, but that's a vague catchall, used to foreshadow future episodes.

Harry has the cartoon powers, as well as his own powers from the book, which basically amounts to Parseltongue. His 'sense' is something I'll build up and maintain. It will not be a catchall. No Titans will appear as yet, but you never know. I tend to change my mind a lot about things like that. XD In fact, I just had an idea that might put them in the fourth chap! But for now, I'll concentrate on the wizarding world while I build up my ideas on how to relate DC cartoon canon with HP book canon, which is made harder by the fact '**Teen Titans**' seems to be in a different point in time from '**JLU**', unless you ignore or take creative interpretations of some of the episodes and ignore '**Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker**'. I will not be bothering with the HP timeline, as most fics are written without bothering with the fact HP is set in the early and mid-nineties.

Harry will— for now— think of himself as Raven, but everyone calls him Harry.

If no one thinks Ivy would act like that, I refer you to some of her early appearances in the animated series and the 'No Man's Land' arc. As for Dumbledore, I've always pictured him as a party animal. I don't know why. One thing's for sure, he will _not_ be portrayed as a manipulative old geezer in this fic. I've had just enough of _those_, thank-you-very-much.

The Voldi explanation scene's been done so many times in so many fics, I thought I'd just skip it

Bet you thought he'd get a different wand. Suckers. Besides, Harry getting weird wands is _way_ overdone.

I like the thought of Raven owning a pet raven. I don't know, I just do. .

TO **Never Odd Or even**: Ah, so _that_ was a plot bunny. Always wondered what those things were.

To **Mage-Alia**: Why, thank you. You never found it again? Dang, that sounded like a good fic. And I'll try to get my ideas on screen, but if I do it all now, I might flunk my courses. XD By the way, try this mental picture: Harry with Raven's hair and eye, even _skin_ color. No red chakra stone, the scar is enough of a forehead feature. Of course, there are some liberties taken in the fic about this, since it wouldn't be Harry without darker hair, but you get the picture. And no glasses. It just doesn't feel right for some reason.

To **Ran Hoshino**: This chap should answer your first question. As to the second, no, he's too young. Maybe on fourth year or something, just to pass the summer.

To **bandgsecurtiyaw**: Thank you for your review. Hope you review this one too.

To **Blue Werewolf Boy**: Already updated. The next might be a while, I still have to write 'Card Captor Harry' and 'The Cursed Logbook'.

To **Sarah R Potter**: And here is what happens next. Long enough for ya? The length, not the delay :)

To **twisteddagger**: -_sweatdrop_- O-kay, _that's_ vaguely disturbing…

To **FF-loverHP1**:Check out my profile page for more of said ideas…

To **korrd**: No, sorry. Here, Harry _is_ Raven. And no stone. He has enough things on his forehead. XD For an idea of what he looks like, check out my answer to **Mage-Alia**.

To **michael68**: Regarding your final note, it sounds like a good idea, but I don't think I'm the guy for the job. I'm not sure I'll be able to give it justice, as I might end up turning it into a one-shot humor-fic.

To **anti-thule**: Uh, thanks for leaving a review?

To **damon blade**: Have done!

Please review, C&C welcome. I'll have Aqualad put out the flames. Don't expect another chapter for a very long time. Other fics to work on, real life interfering… you know how it is. And I'm going to prioritize CCH for a while, just to let off some creative steam… and get closer to Final Judgment.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.

And would someone please satisfy my curiosity, what's slash? Is it any different from fluff? Or mush? Or garden-variety-romance? Anyone who answers gets a 'made to order' one-shot (only!), provided I'm familiar with the universe and characters, and it's **_not_** yaoi. E-mail me the kind you want, don't leave it on the review. For the first one who answers **_only_**.


	3. Stones, Chambers, Prisoners

A/N: Once more into the breach...

I feel it only fair to warn you, this is filler, setting things up for the next chapter. I have been accused of bending the story to fit the book, so here I'm showing what the world is like because Raven is how he is…

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 3: Stones, Chambers, Prisoners...

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans. Would I be writing here if I did? Hmm, probably...

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Raven stood patiently amidst the crowd of first years, waiting to be sorted. He did not fidget, did not whisper nervously with other first years, did not look apprehensively at the hat as it Sorted someone else. He just stood there and waited for his name to be called, ignoring the fact that he was something of a topic of conversation.

He had been completely impassive during the ride through the lake, merely glancing at the castle before turning towards their apparent destination. In the little chamber off the hall, he hadn't so much as batted an eyelash when the ghosts had appeared. He hadn't been amazed at the enchanted ceiling, or any of the other things a first time visitor to Hogwarts usually reacted to. Those around him would have had to be blind not to notice.

When 'Perks, Sally-Anne' was sorted, McGonagall called from the scroll in her hands. "Potter, Harry!"

He ignored the whispers that broke out in the Hall as he made his way to the front, ignoring the little tidbits he heard.

"_Potter_, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

"I thought he was dead?"

"Didn't he kill those relatives of his?"

That last caused Harry's hand to clench ever-so-slightly, and a few of the floating candles above him went out. Control. There was only control…

Placing the Hat on his head, he waited.

"Hmm," a small voice said. "So tense, for one so young. Let's see…"

With the strength of all his years of meditation, Raven blocked the voice out of his head.

"There now, that won't do," the voice said, sounding slightly miffed. "I can't sort you properly if you keep me out of your mind."

_What you find stays between us,_ Raven thought at him, relaxing his block slightly to show the hat the image of it being ripped to shreds then incinerated.

"Of course, of course," the hat said, sounding like he was used to it.

_I warn you,_ Raven thought, loosening his block

"Dear boy, I doubt anything you have in there would- Oh my!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed.

_Well?_

The Sorting Hat sounded shaken. "Well, after living through that, I see there is only one place for you to go."

_Where?_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

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The following days at Hogwarts were pretty normal, by that school's standards. Once everyone had gotten over the shock of having a supposedly dead famous person in their midst, everyone was surprised at how mild-mannered Harry was. He never snapped at the people who would stare at him. When Snape tried to bait him, he managed to answer perfectly, in such a way that not even Snape could claim he was being cheeky. He turned down Malfoy's challenge of a duel after he told McGonagall about what Malfoy did to Neville's Remembrall. Of course, that meant he didn't get into the Quidditch team, but he really didn't care.

He spent his time with Hermione, Ron, and sometimes Hagrid, for the simple reason because they were the only ones- besides the twins, who were incredibly hard to miss, even if you were trying, and Neville, who was still nervous about him- he bothered to know. Initially, he stuck with them because they were the only ones he knew, so they were the only ones he was comfortable asking for help from. Hermione and Ron tended to spark, but generally, the three of them got along.

Still, it wasn't until Halloween they realized _how_ well they get along…

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Raven really didn't get the big deal over Halloween. It was supposed to be a festival honoring the dead, yet people were seemed more interested in having what they called a 'good' time. You'd think the ghosts would be insulted or something, but they seemed to feel the same way. He really didn't understand. How were you supposed to tell a 'good' time from a 'bad' time? He tried asking a friend of his a long time ago, but Tara had only given him a strange look and seemed to think he should know. That had been the first time he'd told someone about his powers. A few weeks later, he'd left her company in the middle of the night after nearly killing her in a rockslide.

He supposed this sort of subjective-ness regarding time was an emotional matter that he really wasn't meant to understand. That and the necessity for the live bats and the pumpkins with candles inside them. He found it difficult to understand humans, even after living on Earth for the past three years. He had heard there was a condition called autism that supposedly disrupted a person's ability to feel emotion. Was this how those people lived? Lacking understanding of what others considered the simplest things?

As Ron sat down next to Raven, the red-haired boy looked around. "Where's Hermione?"

"She will be here momentarily," Raven said, sitting patiently as he waited for the food to appear, in stark contrast to the other people around him. Really, one would think they hadn't eaten in days, the way they were so restless. "Hermione had to deal with certain bodily functions."

Ron blushed. "Oh," he managed, looking uncomfortable.

Raven discretely observed Ron. He knew that he and Hermione sometimes didn't get along, although it seemed to be over an illogical emotional matter. The disharmony seemed to stem from Hermione's performance in academics, which was considerably better than many of her peers, and matched only by Raven. Strangely, although Ron seemed to bear resentment towards Hermione because of this, he did not seem to bear any ill will towards Raven, whose performance matched and occasionally exceeded Hermione's. Raven could not understand it. Nor could he understand why Hermione felt the need to constantly remind them of the amount of her knowledge, telling them information they did not really require, nor ask for. It was during these times that the two ceased to be agreeable with the other.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the food. Everyone around him sighed like starving men at their first sight of a super market. Raven felt tempted to sigh, and actually let loose a small breath before he caught himself, face suddenly impassive. He'd been doing that a lot lately, giving in to his emotional impulses (by his standards, anyway). He knew he should be meditating more, but the academics required much of his time, and it would be impolite to ignore Ron or Hermione when they talked to him, which was a lot of the time. So much of the time, he was controlling his emotions without the aid of meditation, as in using purely will and self-control.

No sooner had they begun to eat, however, when they were evacuated because there was a troll in the dungeon. As they walked, Raven ignored the chatter and speculation of the people around him, although for once he was thinking exactly as they were, if not so vocal or illogical. How _had_ the troll gotten in? He did not believe the twins would allow it inside: even _they_ could appreciate how dangerous it was to use as a prank. Peeves seemed unlikely, as his method of creating chaos was centered on the disruptions _he_ could cause directly, not a secondary part or agent. He wondered what Hermione's opinion of the situation would be…?

Then Raven paused, the equivalent of another person stiffening. Despite his less frequent meditation, his emotional control was _much_ better than any other person in the castle.

"Ron," Raven said, "where's Hermione?"

Ron's eyes widened. "Bloody HELL!"

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It was, in hindsight, an incredibly stupid thing to do. McGonagall practically said so, and they themselves agreed. Still, it was decided it was all for the best. After all, no one was hurt (something that surprised the teachers, who thought that they should have at least a bruise), so no harm done. At least, not that anyone knew.

The same could not be said for the troll.

The story went like this: Harry and Ron, noticing that Hermione was missing, decided to go look for her. Well, Harry wanted to just tell Percy, but Ron insisted they go and look themselves. Apparently, he had been feeling guilty about something he had said to Hermione, and wanted to look for her himself so he could make up for it. Harry had reluctantly agreed to go along with it, but before they found her, they had spotted the troll go into through a door. Ron had been all for locking the troll in there when Harry suddenly realized that was the girls bathroom Hermione was in. They'd gone in to see the troll advancing on Hermione. Ron, acting more on instinct than anything else, had jumped on to the trolls back, while Harry had run around the troll while it was distracted and tried to drag Hermione to the door. She had been too scared to move, however.

What followed was based solely on Harry's narrative. Ron had apparently been thrown off by the troll and got knocked out when he hit the wall. Hermione, seemingly snapped out of her trance when she saw this happen, had run towards him, only to be struck a glancing blow from the troll's club and also knocked unconscious. Harry, deciding his friends were in more danger than he was, had distracted the troll and managed to anger it enough that it had charged headlong at him. It had missed, however, crashing into the wall mirrors, and conveniently crushing it's own skull. The force had destroyed all the mirrors on the wall and all the sinks as well.

Whereupon Harry had begun rousing his unconscious classmates, who miraculously did not have a scratch on them. At that point, the teachers had found them and they had been sent back to their dormitory after being given a cursory examination by Madame Pomfrey.

At least, that's what everyone _thought_ happened…

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Raven ate quietly in his corner with Ron and Hermione. The two didn't know how lucky they were. Ron by rights should be dead by now with a crushed skull, among other things, and Hermione long before, from severe damage to her ribcage and _lots_ of damage to nearly _all_ her internal organs. In fact, Hermione had been clinically dead for all of two seconds before Raven managed to do anything.

Raven was incredibly lucky that the blows that had nearly killed the two people he was sitting with had also removed their short-term memory. If they remembered how hard they had actually been struck, there was no way he could have managed to explain away their condition.

When the troll had struck Hermione, Raven was suddenly taken back to the time of Azar's death, when his second mother had lain on her bed and quietly died while Raven had desperately tried to heal her. He saw Lily Potter's death, what he remembered of it, of a green light that killed, and red, slitted eyes. He saw Tara, his first friend on this world, being engulfed by a hail of stones as he tried to reach her, while at the same time being struck by rocks himself.

He acted on instinct, not even saying his focusing words. All he saw were the two deaths, that he had not been able to prevent, and another that he nearly caused. A wave of his hand was all it took to send the troll crashing into the far wall with a wet, sickening sound as Raven made his way towards Hermione, his own unique magic glowing in his hands as he knelt by her side. Three women had already died because of him; he would not add a fourth.

After devoting his considerable power to healing Hermione, he turned to Ron. The boy was a complete and utter mess. His hair was matted with blood, and elbow bent the wrong way, and his neck was at an unnatural angle. One side of his face looked caved in, yet astonishingly, he was still breathing. Suppressing an emotional shiver, he set about to doing for Ron what he had done for Hermione…

Afterwards, he cleaned them as best as he could, to remove all evidence of what had happened. Now, barely half an hour later, they sat there, eating as if nothing had happened, never knowing how close they had come to Death…

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They became better friends after that. Still, after a while Ron and Hermione began feeling... not exactly put off, but rather, frustrated at Harry's near-omnipresent tranquility. After a while, Hermione asked him why he had to be such an ice king, to which he had replied: "It's who I am, Hermione. I cannot change."

So the two began doing what they could to get _some_ kind of rise from the unflappable boy. No matter what they tried, however, the closest thing to a reaction they'd get was an even stare that they eventually interpreted as annoyance. Of course, it was only because of their association with Harry that they were able to understand it at all. In the whole castle, only the two of them seemed to be able to read his non-existent moods.

They abandoned it after a while when they thought something like anger was starting to be present in those looks, and would only do it sometimes when they felt they could surprise Harry. After that, he would just give them his blank-annoyed gaze, and let it go, seeming to understand that it had become more of a tradition than anything else.

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It was purest dumb luck.

They had been making their weekly visit to Hagrid, whom Raven had felt a slight kinship to since he could tell the man wasn't purely human- anyone with eyes could tell- they'd caught him trying to hatch a dragon egg. Raven had been very close to informing school authorities, but eventually agreed to keep it secret. Or at least, try to.

Keeping a fire-breathing dragon secret was not easy, even in that school. Raven, Ron and Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before someone found out, and eventually someone did. It was then suggested that the dragon, Norbert, be sent off to Romania to Ron's brother, Charlie, and Hagrid eventually agreed.

Raven had agreed to help feed Norbert because he had realized the possibility that Norbert was poisonous, or at least, loaded with enough germs to give someone an infection. Not wanting to frighten his friends about this, he had kept his reasons to himself, and it only took a little bit of insistence to get them to lay to rest their weak objections. He reasoned that his half-demon blood would be more resistant than their human blood, and he could just easily heal himself if bitten, something Norbert liked to do a lot. And indeed, he was bitten and cut a few times, but managed to conceal it with his healing magic and the simple device of hiding the injured part in his robes.

During this time, he got to know Hagrid a lot better and was able to make a few observations about the man. It was obvious that Hagrid had grown up alone, given how he never mentioned his mother, or the fact that he had once implicitly stated his father was dead. Raven hypothesized that Hagrid filled this emotional void humans seemed to need filled by devoting himself to the care of the creatures under his care and becoming emotionally attached to them. He could think of no reason why Hagrid seemed to be insistent that the creatures be large and highly dangerous, however.

Their only mistake had been when they finally been about to send Norbert to Charlie. Malfoy, the one who had found out about Norbert, Hermione, Ron and himself had all been found out of bounds. The former had been caught by Filch, while the latter three had been caught because, they had neglected to wear the invisibility cloak Raven had been given that Christmas on the way down.

It had been during the detention that Raven felt something wrong. He was with Hagrid and Hermione when he felt someone else close by. He wasn't able to identify it, however, because Hagrid, having heard something pushed him and Hermione behind a tree for safety. By the time they were allowed to move, the feeling had gone and another had taken its place, a different, unfamiliar one. Ronan.

He felt it again later, however, when he and Malfoy had found the dead unicorn. Even as Malfoy and Fang ran in terror, even as he pulled out his wand as his scar began to hurt, he managed to finally identify the feeling as Professor Quirell. And something else, a feeling that seemed half-familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it, one that been emanating around Quirell all year, yet never this strongly…

Firenze drove Quirell away, and explained about the properties of unicorn blood, before hinting at something in the school that was more effective, as well as who might be in need of those potions.

It left Raven with much to think about, and ultimately lead him to the third floor corridor, and what lay beneath…

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Raven looked over the lake from his position from a parapet. The water was mirror-smooth, hardly rippling in the wind. It had been an eventful year, all in all.

Quirrell. Voldemort. Just thinking about them made Raven want to shake, although he controlled himself tightly. He had not been doing his meditations as often as he should lately because of the exams, and it was starting to show. Still, he managed to control his powers, so it wasn't really a problem. He'd even started displaying _some_ emotion, although it mostly manifested as sarcasm.

So close. One of the beings who had ruined his life had been so close, and he hadn't even known it.

Not for the first time, Raven wondered what would have happened if he hadn't decided to not use hid powers when confronting the two. Would he have been able to destroy Voldemort? He had done it once before. But the way Dumbledore had explained it, that had happened only because Voldemort's own spell had rebounded on him, protected as Raven was by Lily Potter's sacrifice. Her love of him must have been powerful, Dumbledore had said, if it would protect one not of her blood. For an instant, Raven had been reminded of Azar.

A cry intruded on his reveries, and he looked up to see Azar flying towards him. After nearly a year, Azar was no longer the little runt he had bought. Perching on his finger was no longer an option. She could perch on Hagrid's finger, maybe, but definitely not his. Still, she was smaller than other's of her kind, still a runt, in a way. Raven held out his arm , but Azar ignored it, perching on the wall before him. She was a moody one, but loyal to Raven. How Raven could know that, he had no idea, but he'd stake his life on it.

"I'm fine," Raven said, stroking the bird. She was giving him that look that made him so close too self-conscious. It was the same look Hermione had whenever he'd just meditated and was completely blank, the one that said she thought something was wrong because he seemed a bit different. It was disturbing how the two could use the same look. "I'm not injured. Will you please stop looking at me like that?"

Azar gave him one last look before doing something that looked suspiciously like the bird equivalent of a shrug, before starting to preen her feathers.

It was true. He _was_ uninjured. His own constitution and the remarkable healing properties of his demon blood, not to mention his own healing magic, had led to Madam Pomfrey letting him out earlier than she expected. He'd been lying low lately, avoiding the other students as much as possible. He almost missed the days when they ostracized him for loosing all those house points. Almost. While he didn't mind being held in low regard, he hadn't liked the abuse Hermione and Ron had taken for it.

"Harry," a voice said, breaking his reverie yet again.

Raven turned. Albus Dumbledore was striding towards him, the usual serene smile on his face. If there was one thing Raven admired about the Headmaster, it was his ability to maintain control of his emotions- outwardly, at least.

"Yes, professor?" Raven said, still stroking Azar. After nearly a year, he'd gotten used to answering to that name.

"I wished to talk to you about where you would be staying over the summer," Dumbledore said as he came close. "It slipped my mind in the hospital wing. I gather from our discussion last summer that the lady whom you used to reside with is no longer living, so I doubt you will be returning there. If I may ask, where do you intend to go?"

Raven shrugged, a gesture he had added to his repertoire when both Ron and Hermione insisted his nodding was getting annoying. "I will go where the wind takes me. There is much in the world I have not seen yet, and some I would like to see again."

"You plan to backpack across England?" Dumbledore said.

Raven shrugged again. "As I said, wherever the wind takes me."

For a moment, Dumbledore looked troubled. "Perhaps it would be best if you stay with one of your classmates until the start of next term? I believe Ron Weasley and his family would be more than glad to lodge you."

Raven shook his head. "I will be fine, Headmaster. If it's my safety on the road you're worried about, I can take care of myself without having to resort to my wand. I _have_ been doing this since I was eight years old, after all."

"Since you were eight?" Dumbledore said, surprised.

Raven nodded. "Yes. So do not be concerned for my safety. I am sure that the owl you send with next year's requirements will find me. It did last time."

Raven waited for the Headmaster to say something more, but the old man was silent. Taking that as leave to go, he left, Azar following in his wake.

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_Eight years old_, thought Dumbledore. _He's been alone since he was eight years old._

This wasn't something the old man had considered. When the year had ended, he had started planning preparations for Harry's welfare, since it was obvious he no longer had a permanent residence, but he really hadn't considered how the boy had lived all these years. His discreet inquiries had revealed Harry seldom spoke unless spoken directly to, and that he almost never volunteered any information about himself. His only friends seemed to be Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, although he maintained a passing acquaintance with the Weasley twins and Neville Longbottom. In general, he was all business, and, while not rude, his manner was not exactly sociable.

His little discussion with the boy had garnered him more information about him than all his inquiries all year. Not that he was in any way out to manipulate the boy. He was dearly concerned for the boy's safety, something stemming from his many years as a teacher, and he felt he owed the boy for putting him in with the Dursleys all those years ago. He felt partly responsible for what had happened then. If he hadn't put Harry there, he wouldn't have accidentally killed them.

For the moment, he resolved to let Harry have his way. Voldemort had been curbed for a time, and no Death Eaters seemed about to crawl out of the woodwork, so it seemed safe to leave him to his devices. After all, if he could survive for three years on his own in this increasingly dangerous world- Muggle or Magical- then it seemed he could take care of himself.

Although privately, Dumbledore hoped he wasn't writing the boy's epitaph…

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The minute Harry Potter stepped out of King's Cross station, he disappeared completely. No one, not the Ministry or Albus Dumbledore, could find him. Ron Weasley was unaware of this until he heard his father talking about it one day and said he maintained a correspondence with Harry. Try as they might, however, Harry would volunteer no information of where he was, and tracing the owl who made the deliveries did no good, as she seemed capable of vanishing into nothingness.

Finally, the Ministry for all intents and purposes gave up trying to trace him, and Ron returned to having a normal correspondence with Harry.

A month before the start of school, Harry Potter showed up at the Burrow.

He just appeared one day out of the blue. The Weasleys were having breakfast when there was a knock on the door. Ron went to open it and lo and behold, there was Harry, wearing a worn pair of jeans and an equally worn shirt, carrying nothing but a backpack.

"Hello," he had said. "May I come in?"

The Burrow was a whirlwind of activity that day, with calls to the Ministry that Harry was there and Mrs. Weasley going nuts about having a guest. Although Harry had only planned to make a short visit, he was somehow convinced to stay until September, when they were due to return to school.

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Raven eyed Ginny's cauldron. Lucius Malfoy had put something in it when he had returned her Transfiguration book in, but he wasn't sure what. All he knew was that it possessed incredible magical power, too much to be safe.

"Ginny," he said while no one else was looking, "may I see your books for a moment?"

The youngest Weasley blushed, but nodded, not sure what to say. Raven took out all the books that he hadn't given her, examining them one by one, skillfully transferring the book inside the Transfiguration book under his jacket without her seeing, before handing all the books back to her. "Thank you," he said, walking away and leaving one very confused Weasley.

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It turned out to be a horcrux. Surprisingly, Raven knew of this method of protecting one's life. He knew exactly what it was, and a general idea of how one was made, for the simple reason a being called Klarion had once bothered to tell him. Thus, he was not inclined to entertain the possibility of mercy as he interrogated the 'memory', before ultimately destroying it in the privacy of the mindscape found through his meditation mirror. He carefully wrapped the diary and sent it secretly to Albus Dumbledore, along with a note explaining what it was. On the very night he returned to Hogwarts, he descended to the Chamber of Secrets and slew the Basilisk.

That year was the most normal year Hogwarts would have in a decade…

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Harry once more disappeared that summer, and wasn't seen until September. Ron and Hermione spotted their friend on Platform 9 ¾, and were amazed at how different he was. Although the 'ice king' of old wasn't completely gone, it seemed to have melted slightly. Gone was the omni-present neutral face. Now, small smiles and frowns dared grace 'the gray one's' face, although it was only occasionally. He had a more pronounced sense of irony, and was prone to being a bit more sarcastic.

Everyone was instantly in a frenzy when they saw him. Sirius Black was loose, after all…

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: Sorting was cheap, but it was a cliché.

The rest is also cheap, but I figure, we all know how the cliché years turn out, and the books are better done, so why bother? Things more-or-less follows the books. It's easier this way, really. For me, I mean. XD

The death of the Dursley's is a sore point with Raven. That's why he tends to loose control slightly when it comes up.

Harry, not a Seeker? NO! Say it isn't so!

Raven's perception of autism is incorrect because he picked it up on his travels. It is intentional.

He also has a soft spot for women, because of Azar and Lily.

The Komodo dragon, a giant lizardian specie, is very poisonous, not because of venom, but because of the large amounts of deadly bacteria on its body, particularly the teeth and claws. I figured dragons would have something similar. That's why Ron's wound became infected in the book.

Raven managed to hide the cloak before Filch saw it.

What happened to Harry between second and third year? -_secretive smile_- Read 'Keeper of the Dark Heart' to eventually find out…

To many reviewers to reply to personally- what a _wonderful_ problem- so I'll just thank you all for reviewing: **Blue Werewolf Boy, anti-thule, Purple Artichokes from Mars, damon blade, korrd, wana10, Sarah R Potter, Ran Hoshino, WOA-WOLFPACK, goddessa39, kinguofdoragons, HevenSentHellBroken, hittocerebattosai, Firehedgehog, animefan4life2, xyvortex,** **Gin-N-Angel, AzureSky123, Junky, Crimson Cloaked Figure, Mikito, oblivionknight7, **and **XyBulmaXy. WOA-WOLFPACK**, thank you for pointing out that little oversight. Don't worry, I didn't consider it a flame. I'm actually very thankful you pointed it out. Wouldn't want to lose my credibility, would I?

On another note, I won't be concentrating on this much. I like the concept, but my plan requires CCH to be _much_ further along. So I need to post about five CCH chapter for every one of these. There's a reason, trust me. If I think of something for this, I'll post it, but for now, be prepared for month long waits. Sorry… TToTT

Still I will post, that will never change. At least I'll still do better than some out there…

Please review, C&C welcome. Flames will be used to burn those who thought the second Teen Titans comics series was a good idea. Seriously, the _Atom_**** And a bunch of genetically engineered nobodies? When they had Robin, Superboy and Impulse to use! Sinful.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	4. Raven In Titan City

A/N: Gee, I wonder who's in _this_ fic…

Time jump. This is set at the end of third year, between books three and four.

For more Raven goodness, check out chapter seven of 'Keeper of the Dark Heart' Chapter Seven. Trust me, you'll like it...

Sorry I wasn't able to 'update soon'. For some reason, I blocked out when I hit the flashback.

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 4: Raven In Titan City

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans. Wish I did, but unfortunately, wishes don't often come true around here in this universe. Hence, self-insert fan fiction…

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This being the third time it happened, Dumbledore was not too concerned about Harry mysteriously disappearing off the face of the Earth. The school year was over, and Harry was once more off to be 'where the wind would take him'. At first, at the end of Harry's first year, Dumbledore had initially tried to follow him, but the boy had completely disappeared. Same between second and third year, even though Dumbledore himself tried following the boy. It had only taken a split second from losing sight of the boy before he disappeared completely.

This year, Dumbledore wasn't even bothering. Oh, he was sending someone off under the pretext of following Harry, but that was just for show. If _he_ couldn't find the boy after two summers of searching, no one else probably could. And that included Voldemort.

Dumbledore wasn't stupid. After Harry and Ron had informed him about Sybil's prophecy, he had begun to suspect the worst. When Peter had gotten free, his suspicion became fears. He trusted Harry's uncanny ability to disappear to help hide him from this active Death Eater, and perhaps from Voldemort himself. He had already done his part to assist the boy, laying out several false trails. The confusion in the Muggle world would also assist him, as the Thanagarians had only recently left. Unlike many of his pears, he knew what the winged beings had been, and what price had been paid for Earth's safety. In fact, he himself, along with a few Muggle-born wizards and half-wizards, had broke- er, shall we say, _bent_, the International Statute of Secrecy and helped the so-called 'super-heroes' resist the invaders as much as he could (he had the electric burns, and post-victory party hangover and hand-stamp to prove it). Their actions had been politely ignored by the International Confederacy, who tended to be composed of wizards more informed and sensitive to the conditions of the Muggle world.

No, Dumbledore was more concerned about the changes Harry had undergone over the _last_ summer. He had been more- for him- outgoing and empathic to other people's feelings. It concerned Dumbledore he didn't know how this came about. Even Harry's friends hadn't been told about the cause of his metamorphosis, implying that there were other things he hadn't told him. It made Dumbledore wonder: what exactly _did_ Harry do during his summers?

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Raven took a deep breath, enjoying the salty tang of the seaside air. True, it held a number of pollutants, but nothing that was detectable. He sighed. It felt… good to travel again.

Ever since his encounter with 'Keeper' and Cassidy last summer, he'd been subtly relaxing the guards he placed upon himself. It had taken a lot of experimentation, much of which had knocked the other boy for a loop, but he had survived. Had it been anyone else, he wouldn't have dared. But the guy had proven himself resilient, and his arguments that a few bruises (by the end, it was established the least grievous injury 'Keeper' had taken was a broken leg, no bruises) was a small price to pay for fulfilling Azar's last request was very convincing. After much experimentation, meditation, and some self-help books, Raven had determined that it was safe to display _some_ emotion _some_ of the time, in _very_ small amounts as long as he was _actively_ suppressing his powers to the best of his ability while doing so. There were limits. Raven could not be happy, at any level, without his powers fluctuating dangerously. Happiness, apparently, was too strong, even in small amounts. For the moment, he could not fulfill his mother's wish. But he swore that one day, even if only on the hour of his death, he would let himself be happy, if only for an instant, so that he may fulfill his bond. But for now, he meditated.

As Raven walked, his backpack on his shoulders, simply looking at the people around him instead of observing them as he used to, his gaze fell upon a little girl eating a cone of chocolate ice cream. Even as he felt a sudden craving for the frosty treat, carefully suppressed so as not to cause his powers to fluctuate, he found his mind wandering to 'Keeper' and 'Cass'. Things that were cold, dark, misty, wooden or, for some reason, _female_, did that to him. He found himself missing his friends. The three of them had been alike, in ways only they had understood. It was… disappointing that they couldn't be here. Still, Raven thought as he looked at the palm of his right hand, it wasn't as if they were never going to see each other again.

Glancing overhead, he scanned the skies for a patch of black, and eventually found it. Azar was somewhere high overhead, enjoying herself. Although it was windy, it was not enough to impede his pet. Glad to know she was close by, he turned away, blinking as his eyes adjusted. Hedwig was with Hermione, and would be until he came for her, or until they met at the Hogwarts express, whichever came first. He had done it so that she would be able to contact him, and though Hedwig had been reluctant to part with her master, she had eventually agreed. Hermione wrote to him often, and he answered back through Hedwig. Never about where he was; since he was in the United States at the moment, after having been in Switzerland only a few days before, he was not about to let himself be open to questions about how he traveled so quickly. He still hadn't told them about his powers, and he doubted he ever would unless some event forced him to. Also, he really didn't want to be found. So Hermione knew better than to ask him where he was, instead inquiring about his health and the status of his summer homework.

Ron had been much the same. He kept wanting to talk about the upcoming Quidditch tournament, which Ron promised he would invite Raven to when his father got tickets. Although Raven wasn't really a fan of the game, something he shared with Hermione, he could appreciate the teamwork, accuracy, skill and attention to detail the wizarding sport demanded. Ron had often said Raven should apply for the position of Seeker, since he was built for it, but Raven wasn't interested, since Quidditch practice would interfere with his academics. Still, he had played with Ron when he had stayed with his family in the Burrow, so he wasn't completely unskilled at the game. It was just he didn't have the enthusiasm.

An explosion in the middle distance interrupted Raven's thoughts. Turning towards the direction it came from, Raven saw a column of smoke in the air. He frowned. He knew from hearsay that this was one of the safest cities in the world, but it was paradoxically also one of the most dangerous. The reason for both was right behind him in the bay. Standing on a small island was a large, t-shaped tower, shining in the sunlight. San Francisco was the protectorate of the Teen Titans, a group that had formed shortly after the Justice League last year or so. Because of this, the urban crime that had been prevalent had dwindled, making the city pretty safe, since even purse-snatchers were quickly apprehended. When something happened, however, it was usually big. Very big. The kind of big that used to be isolated to Metropolis and Gotham City.

Flapping his gray shirt to get a little circulation against his skin, which was sweating from the heat, he thrust one hand into the pocket of his jeans and joined the crowd of people making their way towards the scene, hitching his backpack securely on his shoulder. Just because there was little crime didn't mean there was _no_ crime. Pickpockets would have small pickings from him, though. All his backpack contained were some spare clothes and a little food.

Arriving at the literal scene of the crime, he peered between the shoulders of two people to get a look. It… annoyed him that he had not yet attained his growth spurt. Having extra height would have been useful.

As he thought, it was the Teen Titans.

He knew some of them from here-say. The dark-skinned boy who was half-metal and the green-skinned boy who had just turned into a rhinoceros were obviously Cyborg and Beast Boy. And their leader, who was currently dodging pink bolts of what Raven identified as probability-altering bolts of chaotic persuasion- English: bad-luck chaos magic- was their leader, Robin. He looked younger than the Robin he remembered who used to go after Pam and Harley in Gotham, but he had heard that this was a new Robin. The orange-skinned girl currently in hand-to-hand combat against a youth who looked like he reached up to Hagrid's chest was obviously Starfire, who was said to be an alien. Surprisingly, even after the Thanagarian invasion, Earth had _not_ descended into rampant xenophobia. It seemed that the good impression Superman had made was very long lasting, if the numerous Muggle-borns in Hogwarts who believed that the Tamaranean girl, the Man and Girl of Steel, and even Hawkgirl were very attractive was any indicator.

Frowning, Raven scanned the crowd, looking for the team's fifth member. He really didn't know much about her, besides that she was young, female, and rather attractive, at least according to the little he had heard. Suddenly, as the large, nearly bearded boy was about to overpower the smaller girl, a rock suddenly struck him from behind. A large rock with someone riding on it.

Raven had found his fifth Titan.

He moved his head to get a better view and froze. His powers fluctuated wildly for all of a split second before dying down as Raven went completely numb. He stared at the girl before him, who had back-flipped off the rock just before it made contact and was currently causing a small earthquake to get the girl casting the pink bolts to lose her footing. She was very thin, thinner than he was, although it did not seem like it was from malnutrition. Her clothing consisted of a yellow pair of thigh-length shorts, a brown belt with pouches, a tight black shirt with wrist-length sleeves and a yellow 'T' in the front that left her belly exposed, brown gloves and high-ankled boots. Her waist-length, blond hair seemed to flow as she moved.

Raven stood entranced, her mind taking him back to an older time, and a younger girl. He remembered her like it was yesterday. Straggly blonde hair that was almost brown because of dirt, a smudged face that looked at him like an equal, and the bluest eyes he had ever seen…

Typically, it was another explosion that shook him from his reverie. A bald young boy who looked like he was related to Professor Flitwick- in size, at least- was shooting missiles at the Titans while shooting the most insulting almost-swear words you could think of. The Titans were being routed, their battle-plan disrupted as this little upstart disturbed the course of the battle. Even as the two teams regrouped, the blonde girl was struck a glancing blow by a pink bolt, causing her to stumble in pain as she sprained herself. Missiles immediately homed in on her.

Time froze…

He didn't remember moving. He didn't remember taking his cloak out of his backpack and wrapping it around himself. He didn't remember summoning his power or focusing his magic to teleport. He just knew he _did_. One moment, he was standing in the sidelines, the next, he stood protectively in front of the fallen girl, hand upraised in a warding gesture as the missiles exploded against his telekinetic shield.

"Don't," he said simply, his voice flat, even, and cold as ice.

Before anyone could react, his magic struck. The bald dwarf-kid didn't even have time to blink before the spider-legs were forcibly ripped off his backpack, dropping him on his rear. The pack darkened as Raven's power got hold of it and started to rip it apart, causing sparks to fly, missiles to explode (safely contained inside telekinetic fields), and metal to rip to pieces. Through it all, the boy kept on a steady stream of non-swear words that was even more insulting than swearing.

Both of his teammates were similarly contained. The pink-haired girl, whose complexion was very similar to Raven's, was wrapped in a telekinetic bubble, where she started pounding on the walls. Slamming her into a nearby wall instantly produced unconsciousness, as well as guarantying her a splitting headache upon waking. The bigger boy's head was wrapped in it's own telekinetic bubble, cutting off his air supply as he levitated a foot off the ground. In moments, he was unconscious from oxygen starvation.

The fight was over in moments. The bald kid tried to run away, but one of Robin's gadgets snared him. Raven didn't notice. He was looking at the girl behind him, concern in his invisible eyes, shadowed as they were by his cloak. "Are you alright?"

The girl just stared at him. "Raven?"

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Terra couldn't believe it. Being one of the founding members of the Teen Titans, she'd seen a lot of things. Cyborg cut up into multiple parts. Starfire going through Tamaranean puberty. Robin single-handedly taking down Cinderblock with his bare hands. Beast Boy's closet (which sometimes still gave her nightmares). But the last person she ever thought she'd see again was Raven Azar.

Yet here he was, standing in front of her, just like he had used to when they'd met at eight years old, whenever something– or sometimes _someone_– wanted to harm her. Even his voice was nearly the same, saying the same word: 'Don't'. Something in his voice had almost always stopped those people, and those it didn't… well, Terra was never hurt.

"Raven?" Terra said despite herself.

Raven seemed to look around, as if just realizing they were surrounded by a crowd (not to mention tons of rubble), before stepping back.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Terra heard him mutter, before darkness seemed to start covering him. Terra, knowing what came next, lunged forward, ignoring the pain of her leg, and grabbed Raven's hand, wrapping her other arm around his waist and holding on as tightly as she could.

The trip through the dark void- or was it really a void?- was even more disorienting then she remembered it to be. When they came out, it was on top of a building a couple of blocks away, if the column of smoke she saw was any indicator.

Terra collapsed to her knees as the pain kicked in, but she choked it down. Instead, she smiled cheekily at the boy currently towering over her. "Heh. You're not getting away _that _easily."

Raven didn't answer. Instead, he knelt down beside her and laid a hand on her leg. "You're hurt," he said, in that voice she remembered so well. She'd recognize that throatiness anywhere, even if his voice _had_ finally cracked.

Her mouth twisted slightly. "It's nothing, just a scratch. I get worse ones every week, easy."

The hood of Raven's cloak moved, and he knew he had raised his head to look at her, but he said nothing. Instead, he laid his glowing hand on her ankle. Immediately, a warm sensation flooded her leg, and the pain dulled to a throb, them nothing. Experimentally, Terra stood up as Raven took a step back to give her some room. Placing weight on the leg, she smiled. Nothing. "Still got the touch, I see," she said easily. "Although you didn't use the words."

"I've gotten better," Raven said, and Terra raised an eyebrow. Was that irony in his voice? "It's good to see you again, Tara."

There was a heartbeat, and the significance of the moment finally hit Tara, Terra of the Teen Titans. With a cry of "Raven!", she threw herself at the boy, wrapping her arms around his neck and causing him to move back some more. Tears sprung to her eyes as she hugged her first friend, who she hadn't seen in over five years. She felt Raven stiffen for a moment, as she knew he would, but to her surprise, he relaxed, and raised a hesitant hand to pat her on the back. "It's alright, Tara," she heard him say. "I'm here. Everything's going to be alright."

It was exactly what he had used to say whenever she had woken up crying and screaming from a nightmare. Back then, it had sounded hollow, but she had been young, and had drawn comfort from his voice rather than his words. Now, she was a young woman, and the words she heard were no longer hollow. He meant them, knew what they meant symbolically rather than literally.

She was chuckling slightly as she pulled back, tears still streaming from her eyes. "You've changed," she said, raising a hand to wipe her eyes and remembering just in time she was wearing gloves.

To her surprise, Raven wiped her eyes for her. "So have you," he said, and she was floored to see that he was smiling. "Usually, you'd be pushing me away and screaming I was giving you cooties."

The chuckles turned into outright laughter as Terr- _Tara_ remembered that, yes, she _did_ used to do that. "You still remember?" she said, chuckling helplessly as he continued wiping her tears. He _definitely_ had a smile- bordering on a smirk!- on his face, although at her words, his expression softened.

"I couldn't afford not to," he said. "I didn't want to forget _anything _about my first friend."

It was her turn to soften, touched. "Raven…"

"TERRA!" a voice cried.

Tara felt like starting an earthquake, full-sized this time. _Way to spoil the mood, Beast Boy…_ she thought darkly.

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The minute that they tied up the Hive Brats, the Titans were off. Fortunately, Terra's tracer was still working, so they were able to follow it to a building a few blocks away. Starfire carried Robin and Beast Boy, transformed into a pterodactyl, was carrying Cyborg.

During the short trip, Robin took a moment to observe Beast Boy. Even in an animal form, it was easy to see that the guy was frantic. His wings were beating with much more force than necessary, and the Boy Wonder knew that at this rate, B.B. would tire himself out soon. He knew the green-skinned boy and Terra were close, but he really wasn't sure _how_ close.

But when they finally arrived at Terra's location, Robin supposed that it was no surprise that Beast Boy didn't like seeing Terra in the arms of the guy who abducted her.

"TERRA!" the shape-shifter said as soon as he dropped Cyborg and shifted to human, Robin and Starfire landing soon after. "HEY, YOU! CLOAK GUY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"

Robin mentally filed that blatantly jealous reaction for future reference, analysis and teasing. He stood ready, standing casually but having one hand on his bo-staff and three birdarangs palmed in the other. Whoever this guy was, it paid to be careful. Although he wasn't as suspicious and paranoid of everyone as his teacher, it _had_ rubbed off, just a little. He was always wary of strangers, and in this day and age, it wasn't illogical to think that someone could be a super-villain waiting to debut by offing a couple of teen-heroes. It's been tried before.

Terra frowned, letting go of the 'cloak guy' but deliberately standing between them and him. "Will you pipe down, B.B.? The guy saved my life! Besides, he's an old friend of mine, so chill."

"But he kidnapped you-" Beast Boy began, but Terra interrupted him.

"No, he didn't. _I_ latched on to _him_. He was just trying to get away from the crowd," the blonde said, crossing her arms in front of her chest challengingly. "Stop being so paranoid; that's Robbie's shnicht. I told you, he's an old friend."

As Beast Boy fumed, obviously thinking of something to say, and Robin wondered what to say and whether to be insulted by that comment, Starfire, in her trademark fashion, took matters into her own hands.

"Are you truly Terra's friend?" Starfire asked as she looked at the guy over Terra's shoulder.

"Yes," the guy said. What little they could see of his face under the cloak's hood revealed nothing.

Starfire reacted quite predictably. "Friend of Terra!" she exclaimed, rushing past Beast Boy and would have been right in the boy's face if Terra hadn't stayed where she was. Robin felt relieved for the guy. He still couldn't forget the bone-crushing hug Starfire had given him when they first met, and that was more than a year ago.

Starfire, however, didn't let a little thing like an obstruction getting in the way of her and a potential new friend. "It is most wonderful to meet you! Tell me, what is your name, what is your favorite color, where do you come from, what is your favorite food, will you be my friend?" the girl said in a rush, not really giving the boy time to answer.

After a beat, Terra elbowed the guy behind her. "Well? Say something."

The guy tilted his head. "Raven Azar. Black. Somewhere far from here. Ice cream. Undecided."

"He means yes," Terra said brightly.

With a happy squeal, Starfire opened her arms to hug her 'newest friend', and Terra promptly stepped out of the way to allow her to do so.

Robin and the other boys winced. He was pretty sure he heard bones cracking in there somewhere.

When Starfire finally let go, allowing Raven to straighten himself out, Beast Boy approached him, his face set in a scowl.

"Are you really Terra's friend?" he asked the boy accusingly, seemingly ignoring the glares Terra was directing his way.

"Yes," the Raven said, as he flexed his elbow, as if trying to see if it still worked.

Beast Boy suddenly broke out into a smile. "Hi, I'm Beast Boy. Any friend of Terra's is a friend of mine. Pleased to meet you."

Robin let out a sigh he was holding. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about any jealousy fights.

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Raven looked around the room. Tara had insisted he accompany them to Titans Tower after he mentioned he'd just gotten into town. He'd been initially reluctant, but eventually accepted her hospitality. The room itself wasn't so bad. The windows were kind of small compared to the large stretches of wall to either side, making the room rather dark most of the day, but that was alright with Raven. He liked the dark. The shelves were bare, and the bed itself, aside from a chair that stood in front of a desk-nook built into the wall, was the only bit of furniture in the room.

"What do you think?" Tara asked him as he finished surveying the room. "I know it's pretty empty, and it's kind of dark and gloomy, but that's alright! I mean, we could put in a couple of lamps, maybe borrow a few books to put in the wall, and–"

"It's fine, Tara," Raven interrupted. He had to. If memory served him right, as it so often did, Tara tended to babble on for hours when she was nervous. The way she was now.

She blushed. "Oh, okay. Um, okay, I'll meet downstairs for lunch, okay? Just come down when you're ready."

Raven nodded. "I will."

For a moment, Tara just stood there, shuffling her feet. "Um, right. Well, okay, I guess I'll be going!"

She barely managed not to bump into the door on her way out.

Raven allowed himself a slight smile, one he would not have made a year before. But then, he'd grown a lot over the last summer, emotionally as well as physically.

Idly, he wondered what 'Keeper' and 'Cass' were doing at that moment…

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"A-ha!" Cyborg said, pointing at Terra with a maniacal gleam in his eye as she steped into the main living area of the Tower. "I can smell it… even from way over here! The bittersweet stench of rotting candy almonds- the **LOVE REEK!**"

"Love Reek?" Starfire repeated.

"How the _heck'd _you come up with _that?_" Beast Boy said.

Robin smirked as he looked at a paperback book sitting on the counter next to Cyborg, but didn't say anything.

"I am not 'reeking'!" Terra said, ruining things slightly by blushing. "Can't a girl act excited over seeing a friend she hasn't seen in five years?"

"YOU ARE REEKING!" Cyborg said. "The nose doesn't lie!"

Terra ignored the half-metal teen as she started rummaging through the refrigerator. "Don't we have _anything_ edible in here? AHHH! Seriously, Robin, what the heck _is_ this blue mold-thing? It keeps on moving, and I think it's trying to attack me!"

"What's the big deal?" Beast Boy said as Terra moved away from the infested refrigerator, letting Starfire do her starbolt incineration-bit.

"The _big deal_ is I don't want Raven to think we live like animals!" Terra said as she started rummaging through the cupboards. "No offense, B.B."

"Yup, definitely love-reek," Cyborg said smugly, narrowly missed by a can that was aimed at his head. Further inspection showed that it was a can of peaches that expired six months ago.

"How _did_ you two meet, anyway?" Beast Boy said as he threw the can in the trash. "You've never talked about him before."

"We met when we were eight," Terra said, grabbing the phone. "Hello, Pizza Hut? Yeah, it's us. Send the usual, and tell Charlie the password is 'twinkles'. Thanks Sam."

"When you were _eight_?" Robin said. "Where'd you meet? School? Clubhouse?"

"On the road."

Terra didn't elaborate further.

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Years Ago… 

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When Tara woke up from disturbing dreams, she found herself lying on the ground, on a bed of pine needles, and covered by a warm blue cloak. Next to her, a boy was tending a fire, over which a couple of fish were cooking.

The boy looked up and straight at her when she moved, and Tara couldn't repress a shudder. There was something about his eyes, the way they were so blank and unblinking, that creeped her out. Wordlessly, the boy plucked out a fish and handed it to her.

Tara tried to remember how she came to be here as she hesitantly reached for the proffered food. The last thing she remembered was walking into a truck-stop to try and beg something to eat…

She nearly dropped the fish as the memories came flooding back. Tears stung her eyes, as disjointed memories of what happened returned like a nightmare, except it had been all too real, as those brutes, those _monsters_ had closed in and tried to take her, to use her. Afterwards, there was only thankful darkness.

She suddenly noticed she wasn't in any pain. That couldn't be right. She remembered someone breaking her arm when she'd tried to get away.

It was just one more question Tara had to answer...

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: Fight scene was pathetic. I don't write those very well, but I'm working on it.

Raven now acts like cartoon-canon Raven. You'll notice that, for someone who's supposed to keep her emotions under control all the time, she's no Vulcan. Her most used attitude is annoyance, but she laughs _sometimes_. Like in the episode where Terra returns and they're talking about Beast Boy.

Like Hermione, Raven took all the subjects at the start of the year, but he dropped out of Muggle Studies on the second day because it wasn't what he thought it was (he thought it would help him understand Muggles and their emotions). Same for Divination. He was able to tell Trelawney was a fraud. He heard Trelawney's prophecy through Ron.

Thanagar invaded during third year. It helps to be in a magically sheltered and protected school.

The Titan's city is San Francisco. I know in the cartoon it's supposed to be Jump, but really, that doesn't really say where it is, so I'm taking a page from current comic book canon.

Robin is Tim Drake, _not_ Dick Grayson, no matter what the Larry episode implies. This is my take on the universe. As for the Warp episode, it's natural for Tim to become Nightwing if Dick became Batman, or something.

I think the International Confederacy is composed of wizards other than government workers. Dumbledore's presence proves that. So they would be a bit different, probably basing the workings of the Confederacy on the UN (not that great, but working), and as such must get lots of new information on the Muggle world if they expect to be able to keep their world secret.

Terra is a founding Titan here. Slade never tried to recruit her here because by the time he found her, she already had a stable life. So he went after Robin, as per canon.

'Love Reek' -_snicker_- comes from volume 7 of **_Negima_**.

Nothing happened to Terra. Raven rescued her in time. I'm too nice a guy to do that to her...

Thanks to the following people for their reviews. There are a lot of you, so I can only mention you and not do what I usually do. Sorry. Thanks to: **oblivionknight7, Blue Werewolf Boy, Ran Hoshino, hittocerebattosai, Firehedgehog, gaul1, korrd, Sparrownightmare, anti-thule, Sarah R Potter, loneicedragon, AzureSky123, tdk99992000, Shadowed Rains, shadow, **and **NoName**.

Please review, C&C welcome. Flames will be magically absorbed and used to summon Ifrit, who will be sacrificed, along with Pikachu and WarGreymon, to summon a giant fire-breathing, metal-plated, electric chicken. DIRECT ATTACK ON THE FLAMER!

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	5. Costumes, Pizza and Flashbacks

A/N: just to elaborate for the people who are slightly off target in their suppositions (no offense intended), this happens in the cartoon canon DC universe, which I am trying to reconcile to each other, although the dissimilarities between **_Justice League Unlimited _**and **_Teen Titans_** makes it a little difficult. Suffice to say, in the cartoon world, Jason Todd never existed. It was from Dick straight- after a few years, anyway- to Tim. Tim's background is a mix of his own and Jason's although he seems (in the pre-JLU Batman cartoon) to act like a mix of their two personalities. At least, that's the impression I got.

And now, the moment some of you keep hinting for, Raven's costume…!

The gloves looks like the ones Hikaru Shidou wears...

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 5: Costumes, Pizza and Flashbacks…

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans. BTW, the flashbacks aren't really meant to synchronize with the present…

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Tara- Terra- tried to keep herself from giggling as she waited anxiously in the living room with most of the other Titans. Raven had only been staying with them for two days as an honorary Titan, helping them out, but they had only then come across a major problem. At least, Beast Boy had thought so, and Cyborg had agreed with him.

There was no way they could continue to fight crime with Raven if he wasn't wearing tights.

Anyone else might have made a big fuss about having to wear tights. After all, most people found it embarrassing. Raven's, objection, however, was that tights did not provide adequate bodily protection. After all, if they were going to go up against armed criminals, it was only reasonable (or so Raven said) to have as much body armor as reasonably possible.

It really wasn't an _objection_, per se, and when Robin volunteered to design his new costume for him so that it was as armored as possible, Raven had agreed.

Now was the great unveiling, and Tara was pretty giddy. After all, Robin's idea of suitable combat attire was that tight red and green number, which showed off his rear _so_ well. And if _that_ was what he wore for himself, she couldn't help but fantasize what Robin would make for Raven. Hopefully, it would show off his rear...

"Okay," Robin said, breezing into the room, a grin on his face. If one looked under his mask, one would see that his eyes were twinkling with amusement. "He's ready."

Tara kept her eyes off Robin's butt as he turned and sat down on the arm of the couch. "Come on in Raven!"

Tara's eyed immediately turned to look at Raven, who had just entered. He was wearing his cloak with the hood down. On his face was a domino mask like the one Robin wore, with the slight difference that it extended to a point about midway down his nose. His cloak was closed, somehow still managing to conceal his body in shadow even with the bright lighting in the living room.

"Raven!" Tara whined. "Lift up your cloak and turn around so that we can see!"

Tara caught the ghost of a smile on Raven's face only because she was looking for it. It was there for a second before Raven pushed his cloak back over his shoulder, turning slowly a couple of times as he walked in front of the other Titans.

"Whoa!" Beast Boy said.

"Wonderful!" Starfire gushed.

"Nice," Cyborg said approvingly. "You did a good job, Rob."

"Thanks," the boy wonder said.

Tara didn't say anything. She didn't trust herself to open her mouth. Raven was wearing knee-high black boots that looked pretty stiff from the ankle up, which she supposed meant it had metal armor plating. Dark, midnight blue pants took up from there, similar in style to Beast Boy's wear. A black utility belt that looked _much_ less loaded than Robin's hung around Raven's waist. Above that was a midnight blue top over which was a black chest-plate made of some thick, flexible material that protected Raven's upper torso. The long sleeves were tucked into the black gloves he wore, gloves whose cuffs were wide and slightly flared. A red stone rimmed in gold rested on the backs of the palms, the only accents other than the brooch of the cloak.

Tara barely heard Robin explaining how the material was made of the same polymer so-and-so times stronger than steel that his cape was made from, and how Raven's utility belt carried a few devices he thought would be useful in an emergency. She was right, and she was trying to keep herself from drooling.

Raven's outfit _did_ show off his butt! And it was _gooood_...

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"_Here," eight year old Raven said as he handed Tara a bar of soap he'd gotten from his backpack. _

_Young Tara took the soap, careful lest it slip from her wet hands. A few days, nearly two weeks, traveling with Raven, and all she really knew about him was his name and the fact that he didn't talk much, unless he happened to be curious about something. _

_He was unlike any boy she'd ever met. Heck, he wasn't like **any** person she'd ever met! He never smiled, never frowned, laughed, sighed, anything! While he knew about a lot of things- chaos magic was one of the most powerful forms of magic, with no known upper limit (whatever **that** meant)- he was also strangely ignorant about other matters..._

"_Turn around," Tara said after it became increasingly obvious Raven wasn't going anywhere._

_Raven tilted his head in that way he did when he was curious. "Why?"_

_Tara narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Because boys aren't supposed to look at girls naked!" she said, stomping her foot to emphasize her point. It made a splash in the lake she was standing in. _

"_Why?"_

"_Just turn around!"_

_Raven did. "I do not see the point of this."_

"_It's so you can't see me," Tara said as she began to pull off her shirt, keeping a wary eye on him._

"_I meant I don't see why male aren't supposed to look at naked females," Raven clarified, half-turning towards her._

"_**DON'T LOOK!**" Tara shrieked, and Raven averted his gaze smoothly. "I don't know why, but that's how it **is**, okay? Promise not to look?"_

"_I promise," Raven said. "But I still do not understand."_

"_You don't have to," Tara said as she slowly pulled off her shirt, still wary. Raven, however, no longer seemed to intend to turn around. Instead, he settled down cross-legged on the ground, about to do what he called 'meditating'..._

_Many months later, Raven would learn about the concept of modesty from a very unlikely source: Harley Quinn. Apparently, even the Joker's Moll can be prudish…_

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"Titans, g-"

A burst of dark-hued magical telekinesis, and the group of Slade-bots were only so much scrap metal on the ground.

"-go?" Robin finished uncertainly, lowering the finger he was pointing with to scratch his head in embarrassment. "Um, I guess that's it," he said sheepishly.

Terra elbowed their darkest-dressed companion. "Do you _mind_? You're making us look bad!"

Raven's hood moved slightly, indicating he'd tilted his head. "I would have thought reduced property damage would be a consideration."

Indeed, the area was in as good repair as when the Titans had arrived, something that very seldom happened.

Terra pouted. "Smart-ass," she grumbled.

What sounded suspiciously like a snicker emanated from underneath the hood.

"Hey, anyone up for pizza?" Beast Boy suggested as the police came to clean up the mes- er, gather evidence.

"Domino's or Pizza Hut?" Raven asked. Ever since he'd joined the group, teleporting had become their primary means of getting around, although Cyborg and Robin still made a point to drive the T-Car around on patrol at least once a day.

Eventually, they settled on Pizza Hut, crowding into their usual table. The staff and most of the regulars were so used to seeing them that there was only a _small _cheer and some scattered applause.

As they sat down, Beast Boy once more trying to convince them not to order anything with meat, Robin reflected how unlike this place was from Gotham. Batman would have a fit if they were at a public place longer than necessary, and he didn't even want to _think_ about what would happen if he asked the man to stop off someplace to have a late dinner.

As they sipped their drinks- on the house and unlimited- talking about little things that all people, even superheroes, talked about, Robin sat back and listened to the chatter of those close to their table. It was a habit picked up from being uber-alert for danger at all times, and it was fun to hear what people were saying about them. It was also very easy, as people assumed you weren't listening in on them if you weren't looking in their direction and doing something else.

Aside from the usual comments about him being hot- he tried not to look so self-satisfied- and Beast Boy being 'cute', a new topic of conversation seemed to reign. Robin was tempted to clean out his ears if that wouldn't look suspicious.

What his possibly faulty hearing was picking up went something like this:

"Oh, man, that new guy is so _lucky_!"

"He's scoring with _Terra_! Can you believe it?"

"Josh, get a grip! You're three years older than her! At least!"

"Aww, they're so cute together…"

"Who do you think he is…?"

"…heard he's like her boyfriend from Gotham and Robin's little brother…"

"Dude, check out Starfire's…"

Robin stopped listening, torn between punching the guy's lights out and blushing himself. He studied the two. Raven and Terra, not Starfire's. Terra's attention _did_ seem to be mostly focused on Raven, who, although distantly polite as usual to the other's queries, was animated- or as animated as he ever got- when responding to Terra.

Now this was an interesting development…

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"_We had a good time, don't you think?" Tara said cheerfully, picking off flecks of cotton candy from her face and putting it in her mouth._

"_If you say so," Raven said as he proceeded to consume his treat in a cleaner fashion. _

_She gave him a look. "Come on! You're telling me you had a bad time?"_

"_Time is subjective in another sense other than length?" Raven said. "Interesting. Tell me, how does one tell a 'bad' time from a 'good' time?"_

"_You're kidding me, right?" she said, giving him another look. Raven was slowly learning that humans managed to convey a surprising amount of information through 'looks'. "You're pretty weird, Raven. Anyone can tell a good time from a bad time."_

"_But what is the criteria to be able to tell?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_How do you tell a 'good' time from a 'bad' time?"_

"_Hey, you kids! Where are your pare-"_

_Before the big man had time to finish, the two of them were already moving. They ran hand in hand, Raven pulling Tara behind him. Although Tara always complained he was giving her cooties when he touched her, she never made a peep when he held her hand when they were being chased. As long as he was holding her hand, she'd be alright in the end. That was what she'd learned and told herself. _

_Running between two booths, Raven stopped as they met with a canvas wall. Though it fluttered in the breeze, it stopped them as effectively as if it were made from barbed wire and surrounded by landmines. Tara looked over her shoulder nervously, panting hard. Inside, she could feel **it** stirring, building up inside her. Involuntarily, she heard herself whispering 'no' over and over again under her breath. _

"_Tara," Raven suddenly said, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't be afraid."_

_Suddenly, there was darkness, nothing but darkness all around, darkness and cold, cold that came from everywhere at once. It stretched out time, turning a moment into eternity. She felt like she couldn't breath, felt like the cold was worming it's way inside of her, trying to get at her lungs, her heart…_

_Tara stumbled as Raven let go of her, shaking, wanting to shake even though it wasn't cold, had never really been, dizzy and confused, and inside her, **it** stretched, flexed and reached out…_

"_No…"Tara whimpered as she held her head in her hands._

"_Tara? Are you alright?" a voice asked, but it was dulled as the ground beneath them shook, hard, and there was nothing Tara could do about it…_

_Suddenly, arms held her again, and she felt herself being lifted off the ground, lifted up and up…_

_And up…_

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_Tara stared at the devastation she had caused. It seemed worse, seeing it all from above._

_Even before she felt the ground beneath her feet, Tara moved away from Raven, head down and refusing to look at him. her feet told her to run away, and she did, not wanting to see the look on Raven's face, the horror, the disgust, the **fear** that was always there when people found out about her._

_She heard Raven saying something, something she didn't understand, and suddenly her feet were lifted off the ground again. She felt something holding her chest all around, felt it carrying her._

"_Tara," she heard a voice say, a voice that was still the same. It didn't have anything in it, as flat and husky as it always was, surprising her into looking up. Her eyes met Raven's, which were glowing purest white and narrowed in concentration. "Tara, how did you do that? What did you do?"_

_Her wide blue eyes stared at the boy in front of her, and she realized she didn't know him at all…_

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Raven stood on the roof of Titans' Tower, looking at the moon. On the ground next to him, Azar was pecking at some things Raven had left her. Not that he really noticed either, however, his mind intent on other things. Specifically, a cute blonde girl with gorgeous blue eyes.

Raven blinked.

Cute? Gorgeous?

Where had _those_ come from?

Okay, that's it, he was never talking to Cassidy again! Those words were all _her_ fault!

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: How's that? Now leave me alone! It's short because it was supposed to be part of an unfinished longer chapter, but because of pressure and threats to my precious plot bunnies… –_grumble, grumble_-

Okay, **korrd**, since you keep asking. -_grins_- In all previous chapters, Raven was wearing either his Hogwarts uniform- in school- or casual clothes, that is to say, jeans and shirt. He had no special costume. If you'll observe cartoon Raven, whenever she has her hood up, her cloak is closed, concealing her outfit. When it's up, her cloak is open. Harry/Raven's hood is always up, his cloak closed, so no one ever wonders why a guy who looks like a superhero is wearing jeans. Although comics Superboy manages to pull the look off really well…

Oh, anyone up to making fanart of the outfit? X3

Please review, C&C welcome. For those who don't like mushy stuff, please bear with me. This wasn't exactly easy to write, _no da_.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	6. Memories and Friends From Times Past

A/N: Raven's back… and he brought new friends…

Special thanks to reviewer **Rift120** for his (or her) suggestion. While I couldn't make Robin blow a gasket, I had a lot of fun. Also, the requested Haku-like needle attack is here…

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 6: 'Memories and Friends From Times Past' or 'The Obligatory Horror Movie and Cuddle…'

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

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The knock on his door was expected. In fact, he'd been expecting it a lot sooner. He knew she wouldn't be able to stay away from him for long. Nope, he thought as he went to open the door, the ladies just couldn't get enough of-

Terra looked back towards the door as it opened, breaking out into a hesitant smile that seemed specifically designed to break hearts and rival Helen when it came to launching ships. "Hey. Can I come in?"

- Beast Boy.

Oh yeah, the ladies just loved the greenie furry.

Kicking at the stuff on the floor, Beast Boy politely cleared a path for his guest. Terra followed behind, idly kicking at anything he happened to have missed. That was what he liked about Terra. Any other girl would have had a fit and gotten all prissy about how 'messy' (he preferred the term 'lived in') his room was. Not Terra. Nope. _Her_ room was in even worse shape. Beast Boy swore she actually kept her spare dirt in there. The thing had started with nice blue wallpaper. It was now a uniform shade of brown, floor, walls and ceiling. You can't help but like a girl like that.

Pushing pizza boxes, socks and other unidentifiable things off his bed, the only available seating surface, Beast Boy plopped down on another part, leaving Terra with the choice spot, where she could use his pillow and headboard as a backrest if she wanted to.

"So," Beast Boy said casually, pretending not to know anything, "what brings you here?

Terra blushed ever so subtly. Had it been anyone else, Beast Boy would never have noticed. But this was Terra. With Terra, he noticed everything. "Oh, you know. I was wondering if you were up for a few rounds of 'Super Ninja Fury'. It's been a while since I've kicked your ass."

"I'm not really in the mood to play," Beast Boy said casually, subtly kicking a blanket over his Gamestation 3-60 X. "Wanna just talk?"

Not the smoothest way to go, but hey, at least he was trying.

"Uh, okay," Terra said, sounding relieved. He supposed he hadn't been sure how to approach the situation. "Whad'ya wanna talk about?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Well... how do you know Raven, exactly? I mean, you said the two of you met on the road, but you never really explained by that."

Terra shifted a little uncomfortably. "Raven saved me from... some people when I was about eight years old. After that we started traveling on the road together."

B.B. blinked in surprise. "_Eight_? That's kind of young, isn't it?"

Terra shrugged, pretending it was no big deal. "We grew up fast."

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_"So, you can go to other places and make people better and move things around and stuff?" Tara said as she listened to Raven's explanation. _

"_Yes…?" Raven said warily, surprised at the summarizing of his abilities. He'd always thought that they could only be describe by grandiose words, but clearly…_

"_Wow! You're just like me!" Tara said, her expression contorted in the shape huma– **people!**– called a smile, but somehow a bit more exaggerated. "I'm… not exactly normal either…"_

_Raven looked at her, his face only slightly altered to express his confusion._

"_What is… normal…?"_

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"Titans, GO!" came the familiar battle cry. This time, the trouble was coming from a bunch of costumed villains. They all seemed to be joined under a 'gardening' motif. One guy carried electrified shears, another a flaming pruning hook, etc.

Raven found it all very silly, really.

_Still_, he thought as he dodged a strike from a girl wielding a chainsaw, _that doesn't make them any less dangerous._

Subtlely teleporting his wand into his hand, he made a small gesture as he dodged a jab from the motorized dismembering machine, shielding himself telekinetically when the jab turned into a slash. "_Impedimenta,_" he whispered, causing the chainsaw to jam for a moment. That taken care of the weapon, he simply shot the offending girl– and what little she wore he found very offensive to propriety– with the stunning spell he learned from Keeper last summer.

Giving a small nod of satisfaction, he took a quick look around. Robin was defending himself well against the flaming pruning hook, Tara and Starfire were with the pair wielding electrified shears and acid-spewing sprayer, Beast Boy was trying to deal with the individual who used a flame-throwing leaf-blower, and Cyborg was fighting hand to hand with what looked like a robotic garden shed.

Raven thought a moment, and decided to deal with the garden shed.

"May I?" he said as he floated over to Cyborg's location, waiting patiently for his answer. He wasn't quite sure what the rules of propriety between 'superheroes' was in the middle of a fight, but he felt it was within the bounds of politeness to ask if you could interfere.

Cyborg grunted. "Go ahead," he said, straining against his opponent.

Raven concentrated, his eyes glowing wide as he prepared to say the words. For some reason, something Keeper had named during one of their duels last summer came to mind. "_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos! Sensatsu Yamisho!_"

Raven wasn't really sure of the translation Keeper had given him was accurate– One Thousand Flying Darkness Needles of Death?– but it was disturbingly accurate as his darkness congealed into numerous long, sharp constructs around the robot. "Move," he told Cyborg, and the other teen pushed his opponent back, even as Raven used his telekinesis to pull him away just as the needle-like constructs rushed forward faster then the eye could see, not only impaling the target but passing through it and turning it into something the moderately resembled a sieve. The needles shifted slightly, before shooting forward again and again until the robot was a hulking, sparkling heap of perforated metal on the ground.

"Whoa…" Cyborg said.

"Target, five o'clock," Raven said, inclining his head slightly behind them. Cyborg took the hint, opening fire with his sonic cannon and knocking out the one trying to sneak up behind them with his energy scythe.

After tying the guy up with some of the metal from the pin-cushioned garden shed-bot, the two split off. Raven helped Tara to contain the acid-spewer while Starfire simply blasted the one with the electric shears. Cyborg helped Beast Boy take care of the one with the flamethrower while Robin made everything look easy by taking care of the flaming pruning hook all by his lonesome.

"These guys are getting ridiculous," Tara said as Raven and Cyborg finished tying up the gang with metal from their own shed-bot. "I mean, really, an evil gardening gang?"

"My sources say they're anti-eco-terrorists," Robin said. "Apparently, they believe nature is holding back man's progress and should be eradicated to make way for the future… which would look a lot like Star Trek."

"Wouldn't that more likely lead to a dystopic world run by machines, similar to 'The Matrix'?" Raven said as he floated over with Cyborg.

Robin smirked. "Yeah, those guys really aren't thinking this one through. So, anyone up for lunch?"

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It was a burger joint this time. Pizza everyday, while good, wasn't exactly good for you. So they ate somewhere else one day a week. This time, it was a burger joint.

"You guys really ought to try these veggie burgers," Beast Boy said, gesturing with the catsup bottle in one hand as he held the aforementioned sandwich in the other. "They're _goooood_ for you…"

"I believe I speak for all of us when I say it seems to be an acquired taste we'll never acquire," Raven said politely as he waved Beast Boy away. Everyone else just turned green. Raven was tempted to. He'd bitten one of those veggie burgers once and, well… it was an acquired taste he hadn't acquired.

The six heroes were sitting in a corner booth a way from prying eyes. While some of them liked the attention they got, such attention wasn't conducive for a peaceful meal.

Still, it made for interesting results. _This_ time, anyway…

Tara overturned the catsup bottle on top of her burger and squeezed, but nothing happened. Pounding on the back, she got a few drops to come out, but that was it. Sighing, she slammed the bottle back into place at the center of the table. "Great. Beast Boy, this is the third time you've used up all the red stuff!"

"Oh, yeah, blame the green guy," he said, seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that his face was smeared red, his hands were smeared red, and his veggie burger looked like it was still bleeding. Disgusting sight, really.

"Do you want me to ask for more?" Raven offered.

Tara turned her radiant blue eyes in his direction, all wide an innocent, blinking sweetly. "Would you?"

Raven simply nodded. It was best not to say anything when this happened. For _him_, anyway. Despite all his years at Hogwarts, he still had trouble interacting with humans.

Standing up, he kept his head bowed as he went to the next booth. "Excuse me," he said politely, "but may we borrow your catsup? Our table's has run out."

For a moment, there was silence. Then…

-_SQUEAL!_- "RAE-RAE!"

Raven suddenly found himself being tackled to the ground as the blonde in the booth he'd asked glomped him forcefully, rubbing her face on his chest.

Another silence descended, this one not so pleasant as the last. Tara was staring, an unconscious twitch suddenly developing in her right eye. Beneath her, the ground was shaking quietly. The rest just boggled, although Robin boggled more than the others did. The blonde looked disturbingly familiar…

Then, Raven said, "Oh, hello Harley. I didn't recognize you there."

Robin suddenly developed a twitch too. Harley…?

The blonde was still there, and was now being helped up to her feet by Raven. She _still_ hadn't let go of him. The shaking under Tara increased slightly. Especially when she saw that the blonde was no girl. She was a woman in her prime.

Raven turned towards the silent Titans. "Everyone, I would like you to meet my good friend from Gotham, Miss Harlene Quinzel."

The blonde waved in standard airhead fashion. "Hey kids!" she said, then turned her gaze at Robin. Her smile got wider. "Hey, Bird-Boy! Long time no see! Gotham's missed ya! You're daddy-Bat's getting to be a real hard-case without you around!"

Every turned to Robin, who had shakily gotten to his feet, amazement on his face as he belatedly recognized the blonde. "Harley Quin," he nearly growled.

She saluted. "That's my name, don't wear it out!"

"You two… know each other?" Beast Boy said warily, ready to turn into something and get the heck out of dodge if necessary.

"We've met," Robin bit off. "Harley's a criminal from Gotham. We arrested her regularly. What are _you_ doing here?"

Before Harley could answer, a voice said, "Harley, I thought I told you to wait in the booth…"

Raven turned to the speaker. Not much could be seen of her, since she was wearing a trench coat, hat, gloves and scarf. "Hello, Miss Iseley."

She paused, staring at the cloaked figure before her. "Raven?" she said, sounding astonished as she looked Raven up and down. Suddenly, she threw her arms around him. "Raven!"

There was an almost noticeable tremor as Tara twitched.

Laughing, Iseley pulled back, looking at him up and down again. "I almost didn't recognize you if it weren't for the cloak. My, you've grown. And you're a superhero now," she said, pushing his hood back slightly to expose his masked face. "I wouldn't have pegged as the type to wear tights."

"I wear body armor," Raven corrected, smiling slightly.

Iseley blinked, stepping back in astonishment as she frantically looked around. "You're smiling… and nothing's getting broken? How… where did you get the control? No, never mind that, where did you get the sense of humor?"

Raven shrugged. "Last summer. A friend made it for me."

By now, Robin looked… slightly unstable. "Poison Ivy…" he said shakily.

Said woman blinked, looking around Raven as if only noticing the people in the next table now. "Well, well, if it isn't the Boy Wonder. I thought we'd be running into you."

"What are the two of you doing here?" Robin demanded, his hand reaching into his belt for his bo-staff as his other hand got ready to overturn the table. "Shouldn't you be in jail for taking Las Vegas hostage or something, Harley?"

"They let me out early for good behavior," Harley said.

"Don't they always," Robin grumbled.

"And you?" Raven prompted Iseley.

She took off her sunglasses and undid her scarf a little, revealing her face. "They say I'm completely reformed and ready to be reintroduced back into the human herd."

Robin sniffed. "Don't they always."

"Give them the benefit of the doubt, Robin," Raven said mildly, before turning towards the two women. He smiled, and said teasingly. "Congratulations. I hope this doesn't turn out like the _last_ times you two were 'let out for good behavior' and 'ready to be reintroduced back into the human herd'."

The two women blinked, backing up unconsciously as their heads darted from side to side. "You just made a joke…" Iseley said, sounding horrified and awed at the same time. "And it's actually one I understand… _and nothing's getting broken!_"

"**_YAY!_**" Harley suddenly cheered, wrapping her arms around Raven again. "At last! I can introduce you to the fine art of comedy!"

"This wouldn't happen to require that toxin the one you have a crush on is so fond of using, does it Harley?" Raven said dryly. "Because that really hurts my facial muscles, and it's very annoying to have to remove from my system."

Harley pouted. "I said I was sorry! And it was an accident, really!"

Raven nodded in understanding. "I know. I just wish you'd be more careful about storing dangerous materials. You nearly poisoned Miss Iseley's geranium."

Iseley glared at Harley. "That was you?"

Meanwhile, Titan-side….

"I am confused," Starfire said, looking between the three who were and Robin, who looked like a bomb would go off any moment. "Is there something wrong with Raven's friends, Robin?"

"They're criminals, Star," the Boy Wonder replied, calculating attack angles in his mind. "Fought against them regularly in Gotham. I can't remember the number of times I've been caught in deathtrap they've made, or had to pull one of my friends out of one. And that's not counting the times Harley's had a gun to my head, or Ivy's poisoned me, or…"

"But they are Raven's friends," Starfire said, trying to understand. "Shouldn't that make them our friends as well?"

"Yeah, Rob," Beast Boy said, eyeing the two women appreciatively. "I mean, give them a chance. They're too cute not to."

Robin gave the other boy a look that made it clear what he thought of that idea. "They've been more chances than they deserve, and wasted every one. Trust me on this; I know what they're capable of."

Starfire still looked confused, while Beast Boy and Cyborg looked thoughtful– well, as thoughtful as they ever got, anyway. Tara just ground her teeth, her gaze locked on to the dark-cloaked boy.

"Hey," Harley suddenly said. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friends? We know bird-boy already– well, the _other_ bird-boy– but I don't think I've ever heard of the other ones."

Raven just smiled pleasantly. "Harley, Miss Iseley, this is Robin– who you already know– Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Terra."

"Yo," Cyborg said.

"Hey, ladies," Beast boy said, wrangling his eyebrows.

Iseley rolled her eyes. "Cute," she said sarcastically.

"What are the two of you doing here?" Robin said bluntly.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out, Birdy," Harley said tauntingly.

"I'm curious too, Harley," Raven said. "What _are_ you and Miss Iseley doing here? You're both a little far from Gotham."

The two exchanged a look, obviously torn between answering him and telling Robin anything he wanted to know. "Well, Pammy here kind of heard about this group who were planning to burn down a botanical garden with a lotta rare plants and stuff, and she dragged me over to save 'em and maybe kick butt."

"Group, group…" Raven said pensively. "They wouldn't happen to be the Green Killers, would they? Because we've already had them arrested his morning."

Iseley blinked. "You did?"

Raven nodded. "Unless there's another group who are dedicated to the total extermination of all flora in the name of a warped dream of technological progress?"

"No, there's only one… unless you count big business," Iseley said. "So it seems like we've come all this way for nothing."

"Not true!" Harley said, wrapping her arms around Raven again. "We've found Rae-Rae! That's a whole lot better than a bunch of plants!"

Tara ground her teeth a little louder as a slightly bigger shake occurred…

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A little later, however, she was blushing too hard to cause any seismic phenomena.

"So _you're_ the girl Rae-Rae here always used to talk about!" Harley said from her seat next to Raven. "Wow, we finally get to meet you! Rae-Rae was _soooooo_ hung up over you when we first met him. He was asking all these questions about things you did and stuff–"

"Stop it Harley, you're embarrassing her," Iseley said as she smoothly interrupted her partner in crime. "I'm sorry about her. She lost her sense of tact along with most of her sanity when she started seeing the Joker."

_Somehow_, Raven actually got the two villainnessess to sit down with the heroes, although this feat paled in comparison to his managing to get _Robin_ to sit down at the same table as them. The two were to one side of Raven, while the Titans were on his other side, with Starfire next to him since she was the most willing to get close to the two women. Robin was sitting as far away as he could and still be at the same table.

"So, how exactly did you meet Raven here?" Beast Boy asked, genuinely curious as to how their newest teammate managed to be in such intimate– so to speak– terms with two super villains.

"Oh, Rae-Rae used to live with us whenever he blew into Gotham," Harley explained as she dug into the burger Raven had bought for her. "He'd do little odd jobs for us in exchange for a little food and a place to crash until he had to go or we had to, whichever came first."

Iseley, seeing the look Robin was suddenly giving Raven, said, "He never helped us with any of our heists, if that's what you're wondering. Oh, we used to try to get him to help, but we really couldn't _force_ him to do anything– you _know_ what he can do– in fact, he'd usually try to talk us out of it. He usually left just before we made a move– at our suggestion," she added. "We didn't want him getting snagged on an aiding and abetting charge."

Robin still gave Raven a look. "Why didn't you report them?" he demanded.

Raven shrugged. "They're my friends," he said. "Even if I didn't approve of their actions, as their friend I'd still support them as far as I am able. 'The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anyone will side with you when you are in the right'."

Robin raised his eyebrow at the Mark Twain quote as Harley threw her arms around Raven yet again. "Aww, Rae-Rae!" she crooned.

Raven smiled at the blonde. "Although to be fair, I must warn you that if you commit any of your usual activities here, I will be forced to try and arrest you. The Titans are my friends too."

"Hey, no worries!" Harley said. "We'll behave, right Pammy? I mean, you've been so good to us, I wouldn't want to make you any trouble."

Iseley nodded almost instantly. "I wouldn't want to inconvenience a friend."

Robin looked at them disbelievingly. "You're actually promising to behave? Oh, right, and Batman has a thing for Wonder Woman. I'll believe it when I see it."

"Give them a chance, Robin," Raven said diplomatically, knowing fully well that his leader's attitude was well founded. "I will take personal responsibility for them."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Robin repeated.

"That's fair," Raven nodded.

There was a silence. Finally, Starfire said, "Well, friends of Raven, where are you staying while you are visiting our city?"

Harley shrugged. "We don't have a place yet, but I'm sure we'll find an abandoned greenhouse or candy factory or something to stay. There's always something like that in everywhere."

"No, absolutely not!" Starfire declared. "I will not let my friend's friends stay in some dusty, abandoned building of darkness! You two are coming home with us!"

She, Raven, and the others looked at Robin expectantly.

He shook his head hard. "_Ohhhhh noooo,_" he said empathically. "No way! They cannot stay in Titan's Tower! Over my dead body!"

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"I should retake those intimidation lessons from Batman again," Robin muttered. "I'm loosing my edge."

In the end, he'd been out-voted, resulting in the two femme-rogues staying at their headquarters. The most he'd been able to argue for was to have all the security sensors on at all times. And for Iseley not to plant anything _altered_ in his garden ("You have a garden?" Iseley had said, amused), or store any of the dangerous chemicals they always carried around with them all the time ("Don't try to deny it, I know you've got at least one mutagen on you," Robin said). As a compromise, he'd agreed to store their chemicals for them ("Why would you have facilities for storing dangerous and illegal chemicals?" Iseley asked). Just in case, he'd set chemical sensors all over the tower to scan constantly. It was among one of the numerous Bat-paranoia-induced precautions he'd set up.

Raven had arranged for the rooms next to his be where the two stayed. He was taking his responsibility seriously.

Some time during Harley's 'oooh-ing' and 'ahhhh-ing' over Terra, the two somehow managed to bond. The unlikely two–or maybe it wasn't so unlikely– developed a strange 'big sister-little sister' relationship. The two were often getting giggly on the couch, although whenever any of the guys asked what they were talking about, they just get shoo-ed away, even Raven.

Not surprisingly, Beast Boy and Iseley had both gotten on the subject of their green skin. They hit it off too.

Starfire, with her simple philosophy of 'any friend of my friend is a friend of mine', was very welcoming of the two women. She was constantly trying to see if they were comfortable, if they needed anything if they 'wanted to go to the mall of shopping or perform braiding maneuvers on each other's hair' (Harley actually took her up on the braiding thing). She was slightly overwhelming, but they eventually got used to her. It was pretty hard to really get mad at such an honestly earnest person.

Cyborg had been inclined to side with Robin in his stand of 'getting-ready-for-the-ultimate-backstab'– until Harley challenged and beat him in his video games. Then, he was in with the rest of them.

Finally, it reached the point where even Robin was starting to accept their rather unusual housemates. He didn't tone back on any of his security measures or anything, but he _did_ start letting Iseley help him around his garden.

So the eight of them lived quietly and rather peacefully at Titans' Tower, five superheroes, a superhero-slash-wizard-slash-half-demon, and two former(?) super villains. At least one non-villain stayed at the tower to keep an eye on the two, but that usually amounted to them playing video games while waiting.

So, eight unusual people settled into their semblance of a normal life…

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"IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!" Beast Boy and Harley chorused as they came charging into the living area, waving around a DVD case.

"What is it?" Raven asked curiously, looking up from where he was doing his summer homework. Next to him, Azar was sleeping, her head under her wing. He watched Cyborg warily as the latter tucked away the last of the dishes and removed the apron that said 'kiss the super-cook'. He did _not _want any watermarks on his homework.

Iseley walked over from where she had finished tucking in her pet extinct-wild-rose for the night. "What are you working on there?" she asked, trying for the nth time to look over his shoulder.

The dark-telekinetic field went up instantly, blocking her view. "Magic-user secrets, Miss Iseley," Raven said, not impolitely as he continued writing. "Please understand. And yes, I am still using parchment. No plants were harmed in the making of this material."

"Monster!" Beast Boy declared, shaking his fist in Raven's direction half-mockingly.

Raven sighed. "It's a bit more difficult to use writing mediums now that the _two_ of you came together. Paper or parchment?"

"IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!" Harley said, still on the subject.

"What is?" Starfire said curiously.

"THIS!" Harley said, the DVD into the air. "**_'Wicked Scary 3: Special Edition!_**' It's got deleted scenes, including the full-body shot of the monster that was rated too scary for public viewing!"

"BOOYA!" Cyborg said, punching his fist in the air. "I'll set up the player!"

Iseley shrugged. "I'll make the popcorn."

"No, I'll do it," Raven said. "Robin might suspect you of putting aphrodisiacs in it or something."

Cooking was _not_ something they let the two do. That included drinks.

When Terra and Robin walked in, the blonde girl took one look at what was happening and made a logical conclusion. "Not another horror movie!" she complained. "Isn't it bad enough we see creepy and disgusting things during the day? Do we have to see in on our T.V. too?"

"Oh, come on, Tarrie," Harley sang, accepting a pillow Beast boy offered her and curling up with it on the couch as Raven started setting up the drinks and snacks. "Don't be a spoilsport! It's no fun if we're not all here."

"Yeah, Terra. What's the matter? You chicken?" Beast Boy said, turning into one and clucking around.

"I've always wondered why 'chicken' is synonymous with 'coward'," Raven said as he moved his school things to the side-table next where he planned to sit. "It seems to be completely unrelated to 'yellow', another synonym for cowardice."

"The mysteries of life," Robin said dryly as he claimed the spot next to Starfire, causing the two adult females to exchange knowing looks.

The others crowded around in front of the screen, wrapping blankets and holding pillows. When they all settled in, they all looked pointedly at Terra.

She threw up her hands. "Fine!" she said, stomping over. Raven shuffled aside a little, and she dropped down resignedly, immediately wrapping a blanket around herself and reaching for one of the bowls of popcorn…

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Three hours later, the assorted crowd were sitting stock still in their seats. Harley was curled into a ball, her hair over her eyes as she shakily peaked between the strands. Beast Boy had turned into a tortoise, and retracted his head and limbs into his shell, shaking. Starfire had buried her head in Robin's shoulder, one eye barely peaking out as the Boy Wonder unconsciously wrapped his arms around her, his gaze fixed in horrified fascination at the screen. Cyborg had deactivated his electronic eye in an attempt to halve the horror. Iseley was shaking back and forth as she sucked on her thumb, while Terra had practically crawled onto Raven's lap, whimpering. No one said anything as the closing credits started to roll.

Raven looked casually from where he'd been doing the last of his homework using a pair of night-vision goggles he'd borrowed from Robin. "Is it over already?" he asked suddenly, causing everyone to shriek in surprise. The ground shook as Starfire and Cyborg suddenly let loose blasts and Robin flipped over the couch, his staff in one hand and a birdarang in the other.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Was it something I said?"

"DON'T DO THAT!" they all yelled.

"All right…" Raven said warily, before turning to the girl cowering on him. "Um, Tara, could you please get off my lap?"

Terra blushed, before scrambling nervously from her little 'safe-zone'. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay," Raven said, tidying up his books and parchment. "Does anyone need to be checked to see if they're going to come down with a heart attack?"

Everyone shot their hands in the air. Raven could only shake his head. Why would humans deliberately watch something that could potentially give them a cardiac condition, he'd never know…

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Late at night at Titans' Tower, a shadow moved quietly through it's deserted halls, moving as quietly as if it were really darkness itself. It did not have far to go.

Stopping before a certain door, the shadow paused momentarily, as if uncertain, before raising it's hand. The hand passed through the door as if it weren't there, phasing through a darkness blacker than night. In a moment, the hallway was empty.

Raven moved cautiously as he floated in Tara's room. He'd been here once before, and thought that Miss Iseley could very well use the place to grow her plants. It was certainly had enough soil.

Coming to rest near Tara's bed, his lip quirked slightly as he saw the blanket-wrapped bundle cowering in the center. "Tara?" he said softly.

"Ahh!" Tara yelped, although it came out more of a squeak than anything else. A blue eye peaked out of the bundle. "Raven! What are you doing here?"

Raven shrugged as he levitated a chair and set it next to Tara's bed. "I came to keep you company. You know how easily you get nightmares."

What little he could see of her face pouted. "That was when I was eight years old."

Raven paused. "Oh. I'm sorry for being presumptuous. I'll leave then…"

"Wait!" Tara said, her hand shooting out. "Please stay?"

Raven paused again, then sat back down. "All right…"

For a while, the sat in silence, Tara not letting go of Raven's hand. After a while, Raven began to hum a wordless lullaby…

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_Little Tara shook, her eyes clenched shut as another nightmare wracked through her mind. Sweat beaded on her face as the ground began to shake…_

"_Tara, wake up," a voice said, and it was as if those were the magic words. Tara's eyes shot open as the shaking stopped, her gaze meeting a seemingly mildly curious pair of purple eyes. "You were using your powers in your sleep again. Is something wrong?"_

_Tara was still shaking as she sat up from where she was lying on the ground. The fire they– actually, Raven– had made before they'd gone to sleep was still burning, if not as brightly as before. "Nightmare," she muttered nearly incoherently. "Just a nightmare."_

_Raven tilted his head in what Tara had come to identify as the signs of a coming question. "What is a nightmare?"_

_Even to the present day, Tara could not for the life of her remember what she had said. all she knew was that at the end of her explanation, she was leaning on Raven, tears in her eyes as he awkwardly but gently rocked her to sleep, humming a nameless lullaby…_

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Tara, Terra of the Teen Titans, was already smiling even before she opened her eyes. The nameless lullaby from her dreams still echoed in her mind as she felt Raven's hand on her's. She'd come out of her bundle some time during the night, and was now lying sprawled all over her bed.

Carefully, so as not to wake up Raven, she slowly sat up, not letting go of his hand. Trying to move lightly as Robin, or Beast Boy in one of his cat forms, Tara slowly moved back on to Raven's lap, curling herself into a ball. She lay his head on his shoulder as a sleepy smile came over her face, humming their nameless lullaby as she fell back to sleep…

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: AWWWWWWW, ain't that cute…?

In the _JLU_ cartoon, Superman and Batman once had to deal with a gang who had a construction-worker motif. Crazy, those people…

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Omake: The Phone Call 

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One afternoon in Titans' Tower, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Harley called out, skipping along. "Hello?"

She stood there for a moment, listening, then smiled brightly and said, "I'll call him, Mr. B."

Setting down on the phone next to the cradle, she called out, "ROBIN! PHONE CALL FOR YA!"

After a while, a disgruntled Boy Wonder stalked in, muttering about the need to install more phones for such a big place. "Thanks Harley," he said, a little gruffly. Harley didn't seem to mind the tone as she skipped off towards the T.V. where Starfire, Terra, and Pam were watching some eco-friendly fashion show.

Robin raised the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

There was silence. Then, a deep voice that gave hardened criminals nightmares said, "Robin… what is Harley Quin doing answering the phone in Titans' Tower?"

Robin simultaneously felt like swearing and sweatdropping. Okay, how was he going to explain this to Batman…?

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End 

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Please review, C&C welcome. But please, stop threatening me with spoons and ferrets! It doesn't work and it turns me off from working on the fic!

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	7. Teen Titans Summer Fun!

A/N: I just _had_ to do it! A warning to everyone who's going to read this near where people are sleeping or might be bothered: you might want to rethink that. This has, among other things, a hormonal Robin. You have been warned…

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 7: Teen Titans Summer Fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

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When Tara woke up again, it wasn't all the way. Being still nine-tenths asleep, all she knew was that she was somewhere warm and safe, and it was a pretty nice place to be.

Not opening her eyes, she tried to snuggle closer to the source of warmth, curling up as best as she could and trying to ignore the little sounds…

"Should we wake them up?" a soft, gentle voice said.

"No _way!_" a less soft, but still gentle voice said. "Just _look_ at them!"

"Boo-ya Raven!" a strong, slightly hushed voice said.

"Boo-ya Terra," a soft, sultry voice corrected, sounding mildly amused. Tara wondered what the heck they were talking about…

There was a clicking sound, and an air-headed, slightly loud and nasal voice said, "Man, I'm glad I brought my camera! They look so _cute_ together, don't they?"

Cute? Who looked cute…?

…

Oh.

"I think she's waking up," Robin's voice said, sounding amused. Amused, and slightly fearing for his life.

Slowly, deliberately, Tara opened her eye. Four Titans and two former(?) super villains smiled down at her. Harley raised her camera and snapped off another picture.

"Welcome back to the waking," Iseley said. "I hope we're not interrupting anything?"

With the same slow deliberation, Tara turned to look at the nice, warm, soft thing she was cuddling against, and found Raven's face mere inches from her own, breathing softly as he slept upright, his cloak still wrapped around him. He wasn't wearing his mask, she realized. Somehow, it made him seen younger, more innocent…

Shaking off that line of thought, Tara turned her gaze back on the others. "If you guys aren't out of my room in two seconds," she said, "I'm having my dust attack you."

As if to emphasize her point, the dirt on the walls, floor, roof and every available free surface shook and began to swirl in the air threateningly.

Snickering, the six of them dashed off, but not before Starfire– of all people!–gave her a wink. Tara raised an eyebrow. Whoa, that girl knew more than she let on. Robin would never know what hit him.

Sighing in contentment as the door swished close, Tara closed her eyes and snuggled closer against Raven. She knew they'd tease the heck out of her for this later, so she might as well enjoy it now, right?

Still, she wasn't sure what kind of explanation she'd give Raven when he woke up…

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It's always a bad idea to give Harley Quinn time to think.

"YES!" Terra said.

A _very_ bad idea.

"Are you sure Robin would allow this?" Starfire asked.

You never know what kind of crackpot scheme she'll cook up.

"Robin is going to have a stroke," Pam said, before breaking into a grin. "I'M IN!"

The boys would never know what hit them.

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"Um, anyone know where the girls went?" Beast Boy said as he looked around the living room, which was remarkably free of the fairer sex.

Raven shrugged, still trying to puzzle out what Tara had been doing on his lap that morning. Sleep walking, perhaps? "Tara and the others said they wanted to go shopping for something. They'll be back in time for lunch, I suppose."

"'I suppose'?" Robin repeated.

Raven shrugged. "I've noticed they seem to lose track of time when they're at the mall."

"Huh. Guess it's guy time," Cyborg said.

There was a moment of silence. Beast Boy turned into a cricket and let out a few chirps.

"Sooo…" Robin said. "Anything new with you guys?"

Sighing, Raven teleported to his room to do his homework and feed Azar…

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"WE'RE BACK!" Harley announced as she and the other girls returned, weighed down by– strangely enough– _really _small bags whose logos Robin couldn't make out.

"Where's Raven?" Iseley said as she looked around, noting Cyborg and Beast Boy locked in a life-and-death battle playing a giant robot game.

"In his room," Robin said as he polished his bo-staff, applying various amounts of polish and low-strength adhesive agents. The other two didn't even so much as look up from their game.

The girls exchanged looks and nodded amongst themselves.

"Robin," Starfire began sweetly, leaning over in front of Robin with her hands on her bent knees. "We have noticed that all of us have been cooped up indoors for far too long. It is not healthy."

"We use the obstacle course every three days," Robin said, not looking up from what he was doing.

"Yes, but that is not the same," Starfire continued. "It would perhaps be more beneficial if perhaps we spent a day– for example, today– doing recreational activities out on the beach. I believe the term is 'beach party'."

Blinking, Robin looked up, wondering where the heck Starfire had gotten the idea for a beach party– and tried not to gag as he found himself facing a perfect cleavage shot.

"Guess that's a yes, peaches," Harley chirped happily– was she ever anything else?– looking very amused at the sight of Robin trying not to have a nosebleed.

"YES!" Starfire cried, reaching forward and suddenly enfolding Robin in a hug. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), because of how she'd been standing and how Robin had been sitting, she ended up mashing the Boy Wonder's face to her considerable chest. "Thank you, Robin! …uh, Robin?"

Needless to say, he promptly passed out, still weakened from the previous chest shot.

"Well, wadda you know," Iseley said, smirking slightly as she watched Starfire trying to shake Robin awake while still keeping him firmly pressed against her well-developed features. "He's got hormones after all…"

Terra just unplugged the Gamestation and told Beast Boy and Cyborg to meet them out on the beach with their swimsuits, before promptly scramming out of there with Iseley and Harley in tow.

Beast Boy and Cyborg blinked, scratching their heads in confusion as Starfire continued trying to shake Robin awake in the background. "Swimsuits?"

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Raven looked up from the letter he was planning to send to Hermione as someone knocked on his door. Getting up, he quickly strode towards the sealed portal. Opening it with a wave of his magic, the Boy-Who-Lived found a certainly blonde girl standing there looking strangely flustered. "Yes? What can I do for you, Tara?"

The blonde shuffled slightly, casting furtive glances down the hall, where Raven could feel Harley and Miss Iseley standing just around the corner. "Um, well, you see, we've all decided to make today sort of a 'Titan's Beach Day'. And well, I'm just kind of telling you so you can get changed into your swim trunks."

Raven blinked, the action made obvious by the fact he wasn't wearing his mask. "Swim trunks?"

It was Tara's turn to blink. "You don't have swim trunks? Oh, well, maybe you can ask Robin. You two are about the same size, so…"

Tara trailed off, shuffling her foot as Raven waited patiently. "Well, I better go! I need to get changed into my swim gear, after all!"

With that, Tara practically RAN from there, while Raven looked on, bemused. Why was it that humans, girls in particular, seemed to get more confusing every day?

Raven shrugged, putting it out of his mind. He supposed he'd have to go find Robin and borrow some 'swim trunks', whatever _those_ were…

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"Where _is_ everyone?" Beast boy asked, scratching his head as he stood in the middle of Titan Island's beach in his black and purple swim trunks. Nearby, Cyborg was readying his outdoor grill, glad for an excuse to cook ribs, burgers, hot dogs, and other foods that the resident vegetarian considered sacrilegious.

"Oh, quit whining," Iseley's voice said. "A lady must never be rushed."

Beast Boy whirled around, about to give his surrogate older sister a piece of his mind for making him wait when he suddenly 'EEP!'-ed, blushing and turning a cute shade of brown as blood rushed under his green skin. Cyborg took one look, turned red, and became strangely intent on the food.

Iseley raised a shapely eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip, a coy smile playing on her lips. "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with my swimsuit?"

Beast Boy was too busy trying to keep his nose from exploding in a shower of blood, looking everywhere _but_ at Iseley. The plant lady was wearing a dark green micro bikini, the top mainly composed of two cloth portions barely big enough to adequately cover the whole area and mostly composed of crisscrossing strings, the bottom part just a _few_ stitches away from being a thong. A rose was worked onto the right breast, although that was really a piddling detail at this point. Harley's black-and-red diamond-checkered one-piece was modest in comparison, looking like something a schoolgirl would wear.

"DO YOU MIND?" Beast Boy yelled, his voice slightly funny as he covered his nose and most of his eyes with one hand and pointed at Iseley with the other. "THERE ARE GOING TO BE CHILDREN PRESENT!"

Iseley rolled her eyes, subtlely turning this way and that to maximize the effect and cause Beast Boy to require the use of both hands to keep the blood under control. "If you mean Raven, you're wasting your time trying to protect he's innocence. The boy has absolutely no hormones in his entire body. Not one drop! He has no concept of what it means to gawk at a girl, either."

Beast Boy blinked. "Oh. Okay, then."

Iseley grinned. "So, does that mean you like what you see?"

Before the green boy could answer the green woman, a voice behind her said, "Isn't it illegal to wear that?"

The two women turned around, Beast Boy shuffling to the side to see as Cyborg risked a glance behind him. What they saw instantly had them blinking, wondering if they were hallucinating.

For standing there, clad in a pair of red trunks with a golden R on the left leg, a red surfboard under his arm and his mask still securely fastened on his face, was Robin, the Beach-boy Wonder. He raised an eyebrow at the questioning looks, a cocky smile on his lips. "What? You didn't think I wouldn't join in, did you?"

Beast Boy pointed at his face. "Dude, what's with the mask?"

From the way Robin drew his head back, he was obviously rolling his eyes. "Well, I _do_ have a secret identity to protect, after all."

"But you look so dorky!" Beast Boy said, waving his arms to emphasize his point. Harley nodded in agreement.

Iseley just smirked. "No utility belt?" she teased.

"It clashed with my flip-flops," Robin bantered back.

Suddenly, a voice said, "Robin? Is that you?"

Robin turned around at the familiar voice, and almost dropped his surfboard on his foot as he gawked, his mouth hanging open as a small trickle of blood began to drip from his nose. Terra and Starfire stood there, but he had eyes only for the Tamaranean girl. She stood there looking strangely shy, shuffling her feet and rubbing one leg against the other as she clasped her hands behind her back, her face directed downward demurely, although every so often she'd glance up to look at Robin.

Said Robin as was stiff as his surfboard, his fingers twitching ever-so-slightly as he kept looking at Starfire up and down, up and down, again and again. And no wonder; while more substantial, because of her taller build, Starfire's bikini was, square inch for square inch, _much_ more revealing than Iseley's. The way she kept turning from side to side was also doing _very_ interesting things to her form.

It didn't help that her swimsuit was a completely uniform shade of orange that looked _exactly_ like her own skin.

Thus, it came as no surprise to anyone but her when Robin's eyes (still hidden under his mask and thus invisible but you get the idea) suddenly rolled up to the back of his head and he fainted dead away, blood still dripping as a line of drool slowly flowed out of the corner of his mouth.

"Oh no!" Starfire exclaimed as everyone around her tried not to burst out laughing at the obviously hormonally overloaded Boy Wonder. She knelt down next to him, taking one of his hands in hers. "Robin! Are you all right?"

"I think he needs air," Iseley said innocently. Next to her, Harley, Beast Boy and Cyborg were biting spoons to keep from laughing out loud. "Maybe you should perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

Even as Starfire tried to recall the first-aid training Robin had insisted they all learn, the boy began to stir. He wasn't usually prone to fainting, and years of explosions, head injuries and knockout gas had given him a quicker recovery time than most people. For something like a faint, he was up nearly instantly.

He opened his eyes just in time to have Starfire, not really sure about the basic steps but fairly confident she had the right idea regarding what to do, suddenly lean down and press her lips against his.

For the third time that day, Robin passed out.

"Oh, I'm so glad we came out here!" Iseley said, smiling widely as she watched Starfire valiantly but futilely trying to 'revive' Robin. "This sort of stuff _never_ happens in Gotham!"

Next to her, Harley was holding a camera in both hands and taking two-fisted pictures while Cyborg recorded every second of this with his camera eye.

Tara was cracking up as she watched her 'fearless leader' being 'assaulted' while he was unconscious. This technically wasn't rape; after all, Starfire was only trying to revive him, wasn't she?

That mischievous thought sent her into another fit of giggles, and she doubled over, her full bodied peals of laughter echoing through the beach…

"What's so funny?"

Tara promptly choked on her laughter, suddenly becoming ramrod straight and very conscious of her figure. She wasn't deluding herself. She wasn't built anywhere near Starfire or Iseley, or even Harley. The fact that she was wearing one of her baggier shirts on top of her black one-piece didn't help either.

Schooling her features, she turned to face Raven and suddenly had a passing idea of how Robin had felt.

Raven was wearing a pair of black swim trunks. _Only_ a pair of black swim trunks. They were obviously borrowed from Robin–there was a little golden R in the corner too– but they fit rather nicely for all that. At least, that's what Tara thought as she valiantly squashed the urge to drool. Without his cloak–_that_ was another surprise; she'd never seen Raven without his cloak. It was simply unnatural!– she could see every line of his body. and while Raven wasn't nearly as muscular as Robin, or even Beast Boy, he wasn't exactly weak and flabby either. Life on the road did things for a person.

Raven adjusted the satchel he was carrying over one shoulder, similar to what Harley sometimes carried. "Is Robin all right?"

"Oh, he's fine," Tara said nervously, self-conscious even though Raven wasn't scrutinizing her. She hadn't been _this_ undressed near him since they were kids! "He just fainted."

"Then why is Starfire trying to apply mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?" Raven asked. "I thought that method was used for drowning victims."

Starfire looked up, spotting their resident wizard. "Oh, friend Raven! Perhaps you can assist me! Robin has fallen unconscious, and I do not know what to do! Perhaps your healing magicks might be of assistance?"

While everyone sighed internally as their gag fizzled out, Tara wondered if it would be possible to fake drowning and somehow guaranty Raven was the one who tried to revive her…

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: I originally wanted to call this "Teen Titans Swimsuit Edition," but figured that was too much of a giveaway. I especially like the scene with Beach-boy Robin. For some reason, I keep picturing him like that, even during those weird scenes I have that will never see publication where he and Starfire are sitting in a hot tub…

Any and all fanart of the Titan crew in their beachwear would be highly appreciated!

Up next: more Titans in the sun!

Please review, C&C welcome. I've started a Forum for this. Check it out!

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.

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Raven Extra: Eye In The Sky 

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"Bruce, this is highly unethical," J'onn said quietly as he nevertheless made the necessary adjustments to the scanners. "I am certain there is a logical explanation for what happened. From what I have heard, Robin is not the type of person to suddenly 'live in sin' with a super villainess, especially one he has encountered before."

Batman remained silent, staring fixedly at the monitor. Sighing, J'onn tunred to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash for help, but they all shrugged. Diana smiled ruefully, while Clark got this wide-eyed look that plainly said, "_Ooooohh_ no, this is _your_ problem, I'm just here for moral support. I have no intension of messing with Batman while he's in a bad mood, unless the world were at stake. And then only just."

There was a reason Batman had a rep.

After a few more adjustments, J'onn said, "Titan's Tower is now available on monitor three," squashing the urge to ask 'would you like fries with that?'

He'd been playing that punching robot game with Flash one too many times.

The five heroes looked at the small private monitor on the console in front of them… and blinked.

Even with all it's vaunted technology, the Watchtower wasn't all seeing. Thus, all they could make out were the Titans and company standing around on the beach, obviously watching two people on the ground. But because of the lousy angle and clarity, it looked like…

"**Are they making out in the middle of the beach with _people_ watching?**" Flash said incredulously as he stared at the orange-skinned girl looming over Robin. _Score one for the kid!_ he thought. _Although he really shouldn't let them watch…_

Superman's face turned red, not surprising since the Man Of Steel was still a forty-year old virgin. Diana promptly slapped a hand over his eyes, glaring in disapproval.

And Batman…

Like his student, for the first time in his life, he fainted, bat-scented steam wafting out of his head as it overloaded.

Very lucky for him and his rep, no one noticed.

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**END!**

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	8. More Teen Titans Summer Fun!

A/N: filler-esque, but I hope still up to standard.

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 8: More Teen Titans Summer Fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

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After Raven managed to revive Robin (who stayed conscious, much to everyone's dismay), they started setting up. Iseley and Harley grabbed a pair of lounge chairs and lay down to sun themselves. Robin, Terra, Beast Boy and Starfire started a game of non-powered beach volleyball (the non-powered part didn't last long). Raven, since he didn't know how to play, agreed to be referee. Raven being Raven, however, wasn't satisfied with just being told the rules.

"What's the point of bouncing a ball over a net?"

"It's supposed to be _fun_, Raven," Tara said, rolling her eyes. "You know, _fun_?"

"Ahh," Raven said. Then… "_How_ is it fun?"

"Just referee…"

The game went very badly for Robin and Beast Boy, who'd decided to team up. Harley and Iseley had both decided to sun themselves behind Tara and Starfire's side of the net, and took to tilting the odds in the girls' favor by lying in all sorts of outrageous poses to either give Robin a hormone attack or have Beast Boy laugh his head off. For some reason, some poses managed to do both.

The girls thought it was hilarious, the boys thought it was highly unfair, and Raven wanted to know what was going on.

"You know," Harley told Iseley once while they were taking a break from teasing Robin and Beast Boy, "if I had known being a superhero was this funny, I'd have quit and handed by resume to the Bat a long time ago."

"Tell me about it," Iseley said, stretching to gather some sun and causing Robin to stumble. She snickered. "Robin is so cute when he's being all flustered."

The two shared a giggle.

"Those girls aren't playing fair," Beast Boy panted, before changing into a gibbon and sending the ball over the net.

"Tell me about it," Robin muttered, spinning around and back flipping to kick the ball as it was returned.

"Lunch time!" Cyborg yelled, and the two boys thanked their lucky stars.

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Somewhere in the city, someone was hatching an evil plot. While this was not uncommon and certainly a lot more welcome than the hatching of, say, dragons or basilisks, it was certainly inconvenient to the local hero population, which primarily consisted of a bunch of teens who were currently in their swimwear.

But back to the evil plot. It involved power. It involved crushing the Titans for meddling a lot (is anyone surprised?). It involved… light bulbs?

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"Ahh, this is the life," Iseley said.

The three girls lying on the sand next to her all moaned in agreement, having forsaken the chairs when they had all gotten too sweaty to be comfortable. Cyborg had gone back inside, claiming risk of overheat, which no one bought, since they all knew he just wanted to finish playing Kingdom Hearts 2.

And the other boys?

They'd been drafted.

"Robin, could you rub that a little lower?" Starfire said, eyes closed as she squirmed slightly, causing Robin's lotion-covered hand to shake involuntarily as his hand strayed dangerously south. He was trying to remember where skin started and fabric began, which was hard to do since the combination of the heat, sweat, and hormones were royally messing up his perceptions.

He now knew why Nightwing and Batman used to act like such idiots around Batgirl and Catwoman.

"Hey, be careful!" Harley giggled as Beast Boy 'rubbed' lotion on her sides. "That tickles!"

"Submit!" Beast Boy declared. "Surrender and say uncle!"

"Never!" Harley declared, before another laughing wave took her over.

A chill ran down Robin's spine as he listened to those two. Somehow, it was really disturbing.

"When you're done with her, could you do me too, BB?" Iseley said lazily, tracing random patterns in the sand in front of her.

"Sure," Beast Boy said over Harley's cries and protests, which were getting progressively louder. "Where do you want it?"

Robin shuddered, then shuddered again as Starfire moved under his hands. That sounded _so_ wrong on so many levels!

His hand began to move south on it's own accord, and he hastily pulled it back, trying to drag his brain out of the gutter. The sound of Harley crying out wasn't helping one bit…

"Just on my back, Rae, I already took care of the rest," Tara said as she handed Raven the bottle of lotion, hoping he'd take her blush as sun exposure. "Although could you really knead it in, so I know it's spread evenly? I don't want to risk sunburn."

Raven nodded in ascent, although from the puzzled look on his face, he was obviously wondering why someone would risk skin cancer just to darken their skin. Trying to keep herself from shaking all over, Tara lay down on the blanket she'd spread. She barely managed to repress a shiver as Ravens fingers started kneading the lotion on the back of her neck, and nearly jumped when he decided to straddle her back for better access.

She thanked her lucky stars that heaven had seen fit to reward her with this experience. Closing her eyes, she lay her face down on her arms, knowing she could finally die happy– as long as it happened within the next five minutes.

Still, she wished she had the nerve to put on a bikini like Starfire had….

Raven was left to wonder why Tara's skin suddenly went red. Surely she wasn't burning already?

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Tara and Iseley winced as Raven wiped out again. After the rather interesting lotion session where Robin narrowly escaped getting blood from his nosebleed all over Starfire's back, the Boy Wonder had offered to teach Raven and Beast Boy how to surf. It was probably just an excuse for him to get into cold water, but the other two had agreed.

Beast Boy was doing surprisingly well, although he had a tendency to change to animal forms if he happened to be close to losing his balance. Raven, however, couldn't seem to be able to stay on his feet to save his life.

"Your boyfriend isn't doing too well, is he?" Iseley remarked casually as Raven fell off the board again, mere moments after getting on it. It had happened so often Robin and Beast Boy had stopped finding it funny and were leaning towards despairing.

"Yeah," Tara said distractedly, too caught up in the sight of Raven's wet trunks hugging his posterior. When she finally heard, however, she blushed, protesting, "Raven's not my boyfriend!"

"Sure he isn't, sweetie, sure he isn't," Iseley said, snickering as Tara went red. "Just enjoying the view, huh?"

Tara decided not to dignify that with a response, although her attempt at a snooty silence was ruined by the fact she was currently a more vivid color than Starfire. That, and she apparently decided ignoring iseley meant giving Raven her full attention. The small line of drool coming at the corner of her mouth didn't help either.

----------------------------------------

Somewhere in the city, something else was coming to fruition. It didn't involve hatching, the Titans, or even light bulbs. Heck, it wasn't even a plan. But it would bring chaos, mayhem and a goodly dash of magic to the city, threatening it on a grand scale not seen since… well, the last time the city was threatened on a grand scale.

But fortunately for our young– and in Iseley and Harley's case, not so young (though they weren't really heroes… were they?)– this would all happen tomorrow, so for now, they could just lounge around semi-naked on their beach and, in the case of one cute blonde, try not to cause earthquakes as she appreciated the effects water had on thin synthetic fabrics.

Terra no hentai.

----------------------------------------

**- To be continued...**

----------------------------------------

A/N: Please review, C&C welcome. Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.

----------------------------------------

Raven Extra: I Do Not Faint! 

----------------------------------------

"Owwww," Batman said groggily as he sat up, to the faces of Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman and J'onn. "What happened?"

"You fainted," Flash said, trying and failing miserably to hold back a smile. Diana wasn't doing too well herself, for that matter, although she kept it under better as she helped him to his feet.

Batman's eyes narrowed threateningly. The same look that usually sent whole gangs of hardened career criminals running for their mothers did absolutely nothing to the Fastest Man Alive for some reason. Was he loosing his touch? No, impossible! "I don't faint, Flash. Now what really happened?"

"He's telling the truth, Bruce," Diana said softly, her cute, full, graceful, luscious…– NO, CONTROL!– her lips quirking into a smile. "You fainted."

"I don't faint."

Rolling her eyes and muttering things in Ancient Greek with an amused tone, the Amazon princess pressed a couple of things on the console and waited. Security log clearly showed the Dark Knight falling over with Bat-scented steam emanating from his head as he saw Robin apparently going all the way with a girl in public.

"There, see?" Flash said, his usual smile even wider than normal. "That's you, obviously fainting!"

"I don't faint."

"Supes, you can't lie," Flash said. "Tell Bats here he fainted!"

"You did faint, Bruce," Superman said, looking the most composed, although his lips quirked every so often. J'onn had turned away completely, although his shoulder were shaking in a very suspicious manner.

"I don't faint," Batman reiterated stubbornly.

"Oh, for Hera's sake!" Wonder Woman cried, almost literally punching the buttons as she called something else to the screen.

Batman took one look at the recording of Robin and Starfire apparently making, and fell over unconscious, Bat-scented steam wafting from his head.

"Sure looks like fainting to me," she said smugly as Flash, J'onn and Superman finally dissolved into peals of laughter.

----------------------------------------

**END!**

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I'm such a bastard for making Batman suffer, aren't I?


	9. The Obligatory Demon to Fight

A/N: this chap is inspired by an issue of the Batman Beyond Comic. Oh, and please read my new fic, **_W-I-T-C-H: Duelist Knights and the Crown of Light!_ **

(Read '**_Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds_**' by **Sokai**, story id 2502930)

Somewhere in the city, a geek was sitting in front of his computer, having hacked into a supposedly non-existent section of the Library of Congress' computers. A series of cards were lying face-up in front of him, although they weren't anything nearly as innocent as a Duel Monster card. No, these were genuine demon trading cards. And when we say genuine demon, we _mean_ **GENUINE** **_demons_**.

"_Smnim nimlam namlin timlam…_" he read

There was a knock on the door. "Sweetie? What's going on in there?"

"Nothing mom, nothing," the geek said, glad he'd locked the door.

"I'm going to the grocery, okay? Don't get into any mischief."

"Don't worry, mom," the geek said, moving a card to get a better view of the one beneath it. "I won't… now where was I? _Smnim nimlam namlim timlam. **Merlin calls. Merlin wakes. Power to me. To ME!**_"

The geek drew back as red light began to glitter in front of the computer. In the distance, he heard the front door slam shut. "Whoa! I mean, _smnim nimlam manlim timlam. **Merlin's Power, Merlin's Bane. Come to me…**_"

The red light began to surge, pouring into one of the cards, but by then, the geek was too busy being impressed to care.

"**_Come to-- AUGHH! No. GAGH! No. Leggo! Legg--_**"

The scream echoed through the empty house, unheard…

(Read '**_Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds_**' by **Sokai**, story id 2502930)

Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 9: The Obligatory Demon to Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

(Read '**_Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds_**' by **Sokai**, story id 2502930)

"**ARRGGGGGHHHHH!**"

No one in Titans' Tower so much as blinked, although Raven looked up and frowned out the window, wondering if he'd really felt something.

"Cyborg, please don't throw the controller out the window again," Robin said, not looking up from his newspaper. "Just because you can't beat a stupid mini game is no reason to shoot the PS2 with your sonic cannon."

Growling, Cyborg deactivated his artillery, leaving the PS2 open for Harley's machinations as she booted another game and a memory card. "No Larxene, can't kill Pooh, can't summon Cloud…"

"And those games are supposed to be relaxing?" Raven said as he sipped his cup of herbal tea.

"I don't get the point either," Iseley said.

"SEPHIROTH-SAMA!"

They watched as Harley started rubbing her face against the screen, where said silver-haired ten-foot-sword user was currently gracing the living room. Said villain was currently beating the snot out of Sora, since no one was minding the controller.

"Maybe we should just get her a blow up doll or something?" Iseley suggested, amused and yet disturbed at the sight of her usually Joker-obsessed partner being Sephiroth-obsessed.

"I'll make a call," Robin said, going back to his paper as he ate one-handed.

"Huh?" Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven said. Tara just smirked knowingly.

"Nothing," Robin and Iseley chorused, not looking up.

"It's not 'nothing'!" Beast Boy declared.

"Yes, Robin. Please, I am curious to know what is this 'nothing' that is not nothing," Starfire said, leaning forward intently. Since she was sitting right next to Robin, that meant her chest pressed against his arm.

Robin stiffened– in more ways than one– trying desperately to recall and apply those old Tibetan meditations he'd been taught as he tried not to go red.

"Oh, let us have our little secrets, Star," Iseley said as she ate her waffle. "Although if you give Robin a backrub, he might tell you."

Robin winced at the thought. While the idea of Starfire putting her hands on his back– or any other part of his anatomy, for that matter (NO! CONTROL!)– was _very_ appealing, he still remembered this one time he'd been paralyzed and she'd used some kind of Tamaranean physical therapy to get him moving again. He wasn't _quite_ sure which had been worse.

Just like he wasn't sure how to react– on an intellectual level, of course– to Starfire rubbing her cheek against his and trying to coax him to let her give him a backrub so he'd tell her what that "'nothing' that was not nothing" was.

It was times like this that he wasn't sure if having Iseley– and by extension, Harley– around was a good thing or not.

As Raven reached for the marmalade, various communication devices started beeping. Well, some did. Raven's started to sing.

"_When there's trouble, you know who to call…_" Tara's voice sang along with the tune emanating from the other communicators.

Raven blinked, wondering why his communicator played something else, while the other teens and two adults (Harley had gotten hungry and reluctantly left her Sephiroth-sama) gave Tara a _look._

"What?" she said innocently. "I thought I'd jazz it up a little."

Robin rolled his eyes. "So who stays home and does the dishes?" he said, which was actually polite code for saying, "So, who stays home to keep and eye on the two super villains who've been living here for a while?"

"I will," Raven said. "I still have homework to do, and I was thinking of preparing a healing potion I've read about."

Robin nodded, although a part of him wondered exactly what kind of homework Raven had. They all knew it had something to do with magic, but beyond that… and homework meant a school of some sort…

Shaking those thoughts off, Robin led the charge to the garage with a cry of "Titans, GO!"

Behind him, he thought he heard Raven say, "Why does he insist of yelling that?"

--

When the Titans arrived, it looked like someone had just filmed the latest 'Lethal Weapon' movie– the one were Riggs meets Rambo and the two decide to see who can level the city first.

Only, a lot messier.

The reason was quickly made clear as the Titans arrived at the zoo to find a ranting–

"FREE! AXILANO RETURNS! COWER! RUN! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY IN FEAR!"

– demon.

"No prison can keep him. The gates of even Hell have opened for him. Axilano is **FREE!**" the demon proclaimed (how else do demons announce themselves?) as he headed towards the nearest cage and casually began to rip the bars open. The lions inside cowered. "Here, kitty, kitty. Axilano needs nourishment. Axilano needs your soul…"

Something whistled through the air as a pair of Robin's birdarangs few, striking the demon squarely in the chest. Annoyed, the demon turned.

"Sorry," the boy wondered said as he crouched in a guard position, his staff in hand and ready to extend. Behind him, Cyborg and Starfire aimed their blasts at the demon over Robin's back as Terra hovered behind them, rocks floating and ready to throw while Beast Boy crouched, ready to transform and spring. "But it says don't feed the animals. I don't know what you are, but I'm pretty sure the animals aren't there to feed _you_."

"Humans," Axilano sneered. "Mortals. Axilano _could _turn to you for his 'sustenance'. But no, he is not ready for human yet."

Robin smirked. "Is he ready for _this_? Titans, GO!"

Robin lunged forward, still crouched low as Cyborg and Starfire blasted Axilano over his head. Sonic blast and Starbolt struck the demon, who stumbled back in surprise. Leaping forward, Robin extended his staff, slamming it squarely on Axilano's head with a resounding crack. Using the strike as a springboard, Robin flipped backwards in mid-air, just in time to fly over Beast Boy, who came rushing beneath him as a rhino and crashed straight into Axilano, causing the demon to fall over.

Eyes glowing yellow, Terra thrust out her hands, her rocks bombarding the demon before coating him in a thick layer of dirt that quickly solidified into solid rock, encasing the demon within.

"BOOYA!" Cyborg said, pumping his fist as it changed back from a canon to a hand. "Who says Raven is the only one who can finish fights fast?"

There was a sharp crack, followed by an explosion as Terra's rock prison was shattered. Axilano flexed his _considerable_ muscles, causing the dirt to flake off. "Impressive, children. Axilano will feast on your souls!"

With that, a smoky crimson burst of magic shot out his hands. Robin and Beast Boy barely managed to avoid it as they darted out of the way, their long experience in dealing with nuts wielding energy weapons holding them in good stead. Terra attempted to raise a shield only to have it explode as the blast struck it, knocking her off her rock and into the ground. Cyborg was struck full on the chest, which exploded in a shower of sparks as he cried in pain, while Starfire tried to meet her's with a Starbolt and met the same fate as Terra as she fell from the sky.

"Starfire!" Robin cried, before turning to glare at Axilano. Okay, now it was personal!

He and Beast Boy exchanged the shortest of glances before, with twin cries, they launched themselves at the demon, who threw back his head and laughed…

--

Raven watched, eyes narrowed, as the news– taken by the telephoto lens _all_ news shows in the city had, since it was safer getting footage that way– showed Robin and Beast Boy charging at the demon. And it _was_ a demon, not just some metahuman with a horrible skin condition. He could feel the darkness flickering deep inside his soul telling him so, knew when he stared upon one of his father's race…

"Man, that guy's uglier than Killer Croc! Go Beast Boy!" she rooted as she munched on some toast.

Raven's frowned turned curious for a second as she turned to Iseley on his other side. "Killer Croc?"

"Ugly metahuman from Gotham who looks sort of like a crocodile and has a nasty penchant for cannibalism," the plant lady said, shuddering delicately. "Although this guy makes him… well, less ugly, in comparison."

Raven paused for a moment. "Ah, yes, I believe I've met him. I think he was the one who tried to eat me a few years ago."

"When?" Iseley asked a little sharply, her maternal instincts aroused.

"Just slightly before I met you two. The Titans are being beaten," Raven noted as a recently recovered Starfire was batted away, slamming into a wall hard enough to make an impression as Tara struggled to move Cyborg out of the battle zone.

"Yes," Iseley said, "they are."

The two exchanged significant looks, and Harley wondered for a moment if she should start concentrating on her surroundings more so she wouldn't feel so out of the loop like this…

--

"Etrigan, you better come take a look at this."

The sulfur yellow demon in what could only be described as a red spandex bodybuilding suit and blue cape, sort of the reverse of Superman's outfit, grunted sourly from the little perch he'd claimed since his 'official' initiation into the Justice League. So what if people said he made a bad gargoyle impersonation? It was _his_ style, darn it! Although maybe he should consider asking Batman for tips. Being _just_ a demon didn't seem to have enough 'creep out' factor anymore these days.

After all, a guy in a flying rodent costume was considered the scariest man on Earth!

"What is it, Martian?" Etrigan said gruffly as he crept up behind the telepath. J'onn ignored the seemingly rude salutation. As the only to people in the League that Morgan Le Fay had severely messed with, the two had an unspoken… well, not exactly _bond_, but more of a familiarity with each other. J'onn was fairly sure Etrigan wouldn't mind being called 'demon', although Jason Blood might be slightly annoyed…

"There is an incident occurring in San Francisco," J'onn said, pulling up the news feed. "Usually, the Titans handle that area, but I wanted to know if you knew–"

"AXILANO!" Etrigan swore as he caught sight of the dark grayish brown demon currently wrestling with Earth's resident Tamaranean hottie.

At his outburst, some of the technicians within hearing range started inching away, while a few of the more devout started praying.

J'onn raised a nearly non-existent eyebrow. "I take it you know him?"

"He and I once both had Merlin's favor, until Merlin chose _me_ to protect mankind," the demon said, an odd 'I might not like it, but at least _I_ got picked!' tone entering his voice. "If he has been freed, then there is little those Titan children can do but die."

"That is you professional assessment?" J'onn said, and what might have been a smile quirked at Etrigan's lips.

"Yes, Martian. That is my… _professional…_ assessment."

"Then we will need to dispatch a team right away," J'onn said, turning away as he waited for the inevitable explosion from the proud demon.

"Sounds good. Make sure to include Fate and Zatanna," Etrigan said, as he turned away and caused J'onn to turn his head a full 180 degrees to stare at him in surprise. "We'll have to take a Javelin since Axilano's magic will likely be disrupting the transporter frequencies."

As Etrigan left J'onn to boggle at the back of the demon's head, Merlin's defender of mankind was checking his TV schedule. If he was lucky, with Fate and Zatanna's help, they could have Axilano contained by the time Naruto came on. Etrigan ignored the teasing Blood was making in the back of their shared mind.

Hey, he _liked_ the show, although he really wished Kyuubi and Shukaku would get more screen time. And that more Biju would show up in the Manga.

Idly, he wondered how he could get Blood to cosplay as Ibiki at the next Gotham Anikon. The guy wanted to go as _Gaara_, of all people. Was he trying to make some kind of point…?

--

In the end, a Justice League Team made up of Etrigan, Dr. Fate, Zatanna, Supergirl, Stargirl and led by Shayera (or, as Flash once put it, 'The Shayera formerly known as Hawkgirl'), launched out of the Watchtower in a nice and shiny Javelin v2.

"Now remember," Shayera said as she piloted the ship, looking over her shoulder at the two blondes, "your role is crowd control. Get it? **_Crowd control_**. I don't want you messing with the demon, I don't want you two doing anything stupid, and I don't want to hear any stupid excuses like having to leave to save the world from an out of control mobile black hole, got it?" Just where exactly had Booster Gold gotten that stupid excuse, anyway? Honestly!

"Yes, mother," the two teenaged superheroines chorused, sounding bored as Shayera stifled the urge to wack them silly with her mace and Zatanna stifled a laugh. While she could perfectly understand their annoyance at having to do what could be termed 'Booster Gold duty', they could at least pretend to like it. After all, _she'd_ rather be back in her room reading _Negima! _and wishing Setsuna would use her wings more.

She was fairly sure they understood that this was a magic-related situation and that those with magic and magic bashing equipment should handle it, but they really should be more professional…

"Um, Shayera?" Zatanna said softly as they entered the atmosphere. It sounded suspiciously like she was still trying not to laugh and the Thanagarian had the feeling it was because of _her_ this time. "Why– um, that is, what's with the change of outfits?"

Shayera blinked, then looked down and blushed, immediately realizing why people had kept giving her funny looks on the way to the launch bay. Instead of her now-usual casual yellow leggings and top, she was wearing black socks, a very short red plaid skirt, a white blouse and a school tie. Shaking her head slightly confirmed her fears. She still had most of her hair tied to the left side of her head.

Looking Zatanna straight in the eye, Shayera, with as bland a face as possible considering she was still slightly red, said, "I don't know what you're talking about Zatanna."

With that, Shayera looked straight ahead, trying to ignore Zatanna's coughing (which sounded suspiciously like laughter) and the fact that she was about to go to battle wearing her Sakurazaki Setsuna cosplay outfit.

Oh, no one was _ever_ going to let her live this down…!

--

"HA HA HA HA!" Axilano laughed as he batted away Terra, sending the geokinetic and the rock she was floating on flying in a nearby tree. "Is that the best you've got. Axilano laughs at you! Axilano shall tear your still beating hearts from your chests and consume them! Axilano shall–"

"Shut up," Robin said, throwing a freeze disk at the ranting demon's knees. Axilano grinned, suddenly becoming insubstantial, but Robin was ready for this. Quickly, he pressed a button on his belt, detonating the freeze disk and covering his target in ice just as he became material again.

Robin breathed a sigh of relief, even though he knew the breather wouldn't last. Axilano seemed to be getting stronger with every passing moment and the best they could do was slow him down. They needed help, quick!

As if to answer his thoughts, a weary Beast Boy suddenly pointed up, mouth slack with surprise. "Dude, look! Up in the sky!"

Despite himself, Robin glanced up, seeing nothing but a shape outlined in the sun just as Axilano's ice broke.

Robin heard the crack, saw the demon rushing towards. He tried to dodge to the side, only to trip on a piece of debris.

As Robin fell on his side, he saw Axilano picking up one of the rocks– although boulders would be a better name– Terra had been throwing at him and pick it up. "Die, human," he sneered, raising it over his head.

Robin wanted to close his eyes, but he felt like he couldn't move.

With a cry, an energy mace was swung directly into Axilano's gut, knocking him back at least twenty feet.

Cyborg blinked. A wiper popped out of his skull, cleaned his eyes, and he blinked and looked again. "Is it just me, or was Robbie just saved by a red-headed version of Sakurazaki Setsuna with a mace?"

"Sakurazaki Setsuna" glared at Cyborg, and he subsided.

"_Agaruc!_" a familiar voice said, and Robin could feel his body begin to heal itself, bumps, bruises and other damaged tissue starting to knit in a rush of warmth. Standing straighter, he turned.

"Hey, Zatanna," he said. "Long time no see."

"Hey, Robin," the sorceress said, before turning to Cyborg. "_Riaper, eb 'niknaps dnarb wen!_"

A flash, and Cyborg was repaired and looking spankin' brand new. "Yo, thanks lady!"

"So what brings the Justice League to our neck of the woods?" Robin asked as he dropped back to a guard position, his peripheral vision registering two vaguely familiar fliers going in opposite directions.

"Do you even need to ask?" Zatanna said, brandishing her– gasp!– wand. "Most of the League magicians are here. We figured you'd need help with this one."

Robin frowned. "We should be insulted, but yeah, we kind of left our occult specialist at home doing babysitting duty."

Zatanna raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to wait 'til later to ask.

"Axilano!" came the cry as Etrigan dropped down dramatically.

"Etrigan!" Axilano growled, the two of them squaring off.

Robin tensed, ready to jump in the moment he spotted an opening, but Zatanna said, "Stay back, Robin. Let us handle this. The Titans are a little out of your depth."

"This is our city," Robin said stubbornly.

"Then do what's best for it," Dr Fate said as he suddenly appeared next to Zatanna watching as Etrigan and Axilano rumbled. "None of the Titans have the power to fight this being. Go and be where you can do the most good."

"He is right, Robin," Starfire said, dropping down to the ground next to the Boy Wonder and placing her hand on his shoulder.

Robin frowned, but couldn't dispute the logic of the suggestion. "Let's g–"

"HELP!"

Robin and Starfire whirled. Axilano had Beast Boy in his grip as a raging Etrigan was barely held back by 'Sakurazaki Setsuna'.

"Move and he dies," Axilano said, grinning, while Beast Boy futilely tried to break free, his shape-shifting seemingly impaired by Axilano's magic.

"HELP! I don't want to get my soul sucked out!" Beast Boy cried.

"What trick of mortality do you intend to use now, flyspecks?" Axilano sneered, before leaning forward, his mouth moving hungrily towards Beast Boy. Behind him, a puddle of black suddenly appeared, ejecting out a figure in red and black carrying–

"Now, Axilano shall _feed!_"

"You know, referring to yourself in the third person is a sign of a disturbed mind. Trust me, I'd know. Batter up!" SLAM!

– a **_HUGE_ **wooden mallet.

"And it's outta here! The crowd goes wild as Harley rescues her first Beast Boy of the season!" Harley said, her wide smile accentuated by the makeup she was wearing as Beast Boy fell to safety and Axilano was slammed into a nearby wall.

"Harley?" Robin said, surprised to see her wearing her clown regalia.

"**_Harley?_**" Zatanna exclaimed, recognizing one of Gotham's more 'colorful' rogues.

"HARLEY!" Beast Boy cried, clamping on to her waist. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

Harley gave a jaunty two-fingered salute. "That's me! Harley Quinn to the rescue!"

As those in the League who recognized her boggled, Axilano roared as he struggled to stand. Before he could get to his feet, however, a dark blue blur suddenly whirled past above him, scattering something around Etrigan's feet.

"Now," the blur said calmly as it resolved into a cloaked figure, who quickly rushed to help Terra stand.

At these words, branches suddenly erupted out of the ground, entangling Axilano as he sought to free himself. Unfortunately, he started breaking through them rather easily.

"It's not working, Rae!" Robin heard, and the Boy Wonder caught sight of Iseley– no, _Poison Ivy_– standing off to one side, her arms outstretched as she bought her powers to bear on the plants.

"Is that holly?" Zatanna said, looking closely at the plant.

"Yeah," Harley said as she flipped gracefully through the air to land next to Robin, Beast Boy held in her hands as a cricket. "Raven thought it might work since he says it's got magical properties, but it doesn't look like it's working."

"It just needs a boost," Fate said as he raised his hands. "_In the name of Fate, I call upon the holy powers of the blessed of the druids! Bind this demon within thy sacred arms!_"

The holly branches began to glow, even as Axilano began to cry out in pain. "NO I WILL NOT BE BOUND AGAIN! I WILL BE FREE!"

With a cry, there was a burst of crimson light blinding everyone in sight. When they finally managed to blink back the spots, Axilano was gone.

"Coulda told you that would happen," Harley said cheerfully.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Beast Boy said, looking around frantically.

"He has gone to lick his wounds," Etrigan said, angrily pulling his arm back from "Sakurazaki Setsuna", who Raven finally recognized as Hawkgirl. "He will return. And when he does, he will be more powerful than before."

"Oh, goody," Cyborg said sarcastically, eyeing the damage in the area. Fortunately, they'd managed to lure Axilano away from the zoo early on in the fight, so there were no wild animals loose– well, except for Beast Boy, that is. "I don't think our insurance can cover it."

Zattana just smiled. "_Xif_," she said, waving at the devastated landscape. A blink, and it was all looking good as new.

Harley leaned around Robin. "Oh, hey magic-lady! Didn't see you there!"

Zatanna's eyes narrowed. "Robin," she said, in the voice mothers used to find out something they really didn't want to know, "what is Harley Quinn doing here?"

"She and Ivy are staying with us in the Tower," Robin said, keeping an eye out to make sure that Starfire didn't just fly off as the Tamaranean girl admired the effects of Zatanna's spell. Then he paused, looking at the two of them curiously. "Which is where they're supposed to be, actually…"

There was nothing accusatory in his tone, just someone wanting to know why two people weren't where they were supposed to be. Harley raised her hands defensively, pointing at Ivy and the cloaked form of Raven, who was bringing Terra to join them. "Don't look at me! It was _their_ idea!"

"Given that you did not seem to be faring well against the demon, I decided it would be best if I brought reinforcements," Raven said, coming to stand by the two women. "It was my idea. I take full responsibility."

"He's lying," Poison Ivy said dryly, although she looked touched Raven had been willing to take all the blame. It was probably a novel experience for her. "It was my idea for him to break into your storage facilities to get the stuff I needed for the holly. That's what took us so long."

"Oh," Robin said, looking at the small circle of trees and shrubs that now grew where Axilano had stood. Then he just shrugged. "Thanks for the back-up."

Ivy raised an eyebrow, but Robin didn't say anything else. Zatanna was looking at Robin in astonishment, obviously wondering if he'd lost his mind. So was Hawkgirl, for that matter, although she was keeping an eye on Harley, clearing remembering the Las Vegas thing.

Then, Raven stepped forward.

"Hello Miss Zatara, Doctor Fate. It's nice to see you two again," Raven said, a welcoming warmth in his voice. "How is the lady Inza? Is she well?"

Zatanna blinked, her eyes boggling. Fate might have blinked under his helmet, but no one could be sure. "RAVEN?" they chorused.

Terra raised an eyebrow. "Man, you sure get around, Rae."

--

"_NOO!_ You're hurting me…"

_Stop it! Stop fighting me! You're drawing me back in!_

"Please! I don't know what you want! Let me go!"

_**You** called me here. You freed me from the plane in which Merlin imprisoned me._

"I didn't know! I was just playing! Please! **_AHHHHHH!_**"

_Playing with forces you don't understand… Stupid mortal… You have opened the door to my freedom. I do not yet have the strength to be free of you… but I will. Soon. And when I am freed… I shall have my vengeance!_

--

Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, oblivious to dangers involving demons, Titans and magicians, some still insisted on hatching their plot. The one that involved a lot of light bulbs. An _obscene_ amount of light bulbs.

"Soon," the figure in the too bright room said, chuckling in what could have been a malicious manner but sounding a lot like someone doing a bad Jack Spicer impersonation. "Soon I'll have everything I need to crush the Titans. The city will tremble before me, and LIGHT SHALL RULE ALL!"

The figure threw back his head and laughed. The laugh was a lot creepier than the chuckle since the guy managed to get Dilandau Albatou's laugh _just_ right, completely ignoring the TV behind him that was warning everyone that a dangerous demon was on the loose.

Which just goes to show that while the guy was nearly as nuts as Dilly-sama, he didn't have the genius to realize he should wait his turn to get a crack at the heroes.

Although one might be surprised at how exactly this all works out…

--

Somewhere just outside the city, black mist rippled out of nowhere, before resolving into a dark clad figure materialized out of the nothingness. Green eyes surveyed the view before it, a small smile tugging at lips as eyes caught sight of the giant 'T'-shaped tower in the middle of the bay.

"Looks like he finally joined up. I hope I didn't pop into 'The End' or anything," the figure said, one hand idly reaching up to stroke a black crystal pendant wrapped around a dark metal framework. The crystal seemed to pulse like the beating of a heart, steady and regular. "I wonder if the Terra girl is here too. I hope so. She's kind of cute. And I'm talking to myself again. _Man_, I miss Cass."

Grinning, the figure disappeared in another swirl of black mist…

(Read '**_Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds_**' by **Sokai**, story id 2502930)

**- To be continued...**

(Read '**_Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds_**' by **Sokai**, story id 2502930)

A/N: my one regret over not having a female Raven in this fic is that I can't make a mud-wrestling scene that's as sexy as the one in 'Aftershock, part 1'. _Oh_, if only that mud hadn't been so watery…

Don't you just love it when the League gets all silly ("Am I blue? Am I blue…?")? And I agree with Shayera. _AKAMATSU-SAMA, SHOW SETSUNA-CHAN'S WINGS MORE!_

Special thanks to **Special Chocolate Bear**'s story, _**Connection**,_ for introducing me to the idea of Shayera as a funny _character_. Most mediums show her too much as the violent female goon…

And now, a preview:

"_Oh, chill out, Robby-kins," Harley said as she dropped down on the sofa and switched on the DVD player, inserting their copy of **Advent Children**. "Relax, you'll live longer." _

"_Oh, you did not just call me 'Robby-kins'!" Robin said, glaring at the clown. _

"_Sorry. We'll tell Starfire you don't like being called that," Ivy said dryly as she pulled off her gloves. At Zatanna and Shayera's curious looks, she leaned forward and said, sotto voce, "His girlfriend, although he won't admit it."_

"_Would you mind not spreading rumors about me?" Robin said, peeved._

"_What about rumors?" Starfire said as she entered the room with Supergirl and Stargirl in tow, having volunteered to meet them on the roof. She therefore conveniently failed to notice the blondes' gaze instantly latching on to Robin, and twin looks that said 'WOW, he's hot!' being plastered on their faces._

Please review, C&C welcome. **webweaver, **this one's for you!

Again, please read my new fic, **_W-I-T-C-H: Duelist Knights and the Crown of Light! _**

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	10. A Light Interlude

A/N: Raven/Harry _will_ go back to Hogwarts eventually– alone, I might add. Sorry guys.

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 10: A Light Interlude

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans. I _would_ like to own one of Raven's nifty cloaks.

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Zatanna blinked, her eyes boggling. Fate might have blinked under his helmet, but no one could be sure. "RAVEN?" they chorused.

Tara raised an eyebrow. "Man, you sure get around, Rae."

The next second, Raven found himself being enthusiastically hugged by a fishnet wearing, tail-coated and top-hatted sorceress. "RAVEN!" Zatanna cried, drawing back and looking at Raven at arms length. "How have you been? _Where_ have you been? When did you come back to San Francisco?"

Robin boggled. "You two know each other?" he said.

"We met while I was living in my house here in San Fran," Zatanna said, looking at Raven with a critical eye. "Man, how long ago was that? Four, five years ago? You've grown, Rae."

"Puberty does that," Raven said, his lip curving into a small smile.

Zatanna blinked. "Did he just make a joke?" she asked in astonishment.

"Surprised the heck out of us too," Poison Ivy said.

Zatanna glared at Poison Ivy suspiciously. "How do _you_ know Raven?"

"None of your business," Ivy retorted.

"I used to live with them whenever I came through Gotham," Raven explained, looking between the two and trying to understand why they seemed to be so antagonistic towards each other.

"Look, sorry to interrupt the reunion, but in case you haven't noticed, we still have a demon on the loose to deal with," Hawkgirl said.

Cyborg took one look at her and began to snicker.

One elegant eyebrow went up. "What are you laughing at, _Chachamaru?_"

That shut Cyborg up. "HEY!"

"Perhaps we should return to Titan's Tower," Raven suggested. "One of my books might contain something about scrying for demons. At the very least, my crystal ball might allow us to find him."

Tara blinked. "You have a _crystal ball_?"

"Yes," Raven said simply.

Fate stepped forward, inclining his head ever so slightly. "It is good to see you again, Raven. Inza will be pleased to know you are in good health."

"And you, Doctor," Raven said. "I only wish it could be under more pleasant circumstances. Who was that demon?"

"He is Axilano, once one of Merlin's favored," Etrigan said, causing Beast Boy to jump. "He fell from Merlin's grace and was sealed in a far off plane. Now that he was returned, he seeks vengeance upon me for his fall."

Raven frowned in thought. "Axilano…" he muttered, remembering. "One of the two demons who aided Merlin in banishing the one referred to as Scath?"

Etrigan's eyes widened in shock as Fate and Zatanna gasped. "Where did you learn that name?" he demanded.

"When I was eleven, I encountered a wand whose core contained one of the hairs of the demon referred to as Scath," Raven said. "I asked the shopkeeper about it, and he told me the story of how his ancestor crafted the wand."

"The fool doesn't know what he has!" Etrigan exclaimed, sounding strangely afraid.

"No, he didn't. I've destroyed the wand and hair," Raven said. "It cannot be used again."

"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Harley asked.

"Nothing that relates to what we currently face, Harley," Raven said. "Merely a distantly related matter."

Raven seemed to shake himself, before turning to Robin. "We should return to Titan's Tower. As I said, if my crystal can't find him, perhaps something in my books can help."

Robin nodded. "Let's go," he said, turning towards the Leaguers. "You guys are coming, right?"

Hawkgirl raised a hand to her League earpiece. "Let me call Supergirl and Stargirl."

"Have them go straight there," Raven said. "It would be easier if the rest of us just teleported."

"You sure?" Robin said. "I mean, won't that tire you out?"

Raven smiled slightly. "You're forgetting, Robin. I'm not the only one here who can teleport."

He inclined his head towards the other two League magicians.

Zatanna struck a pose. "So, who's riding with me?"

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"Nice digs Robin," Zatanna said as the Leaguers were lead into the Titan's living room. "I'm surprise you kids get anything done." She eyed the game console in front of the window-sized TV.

"It's tough, but we manage," Robin said dryly.

"He's a real slave driver," Beast Boy whispered to Zatanna conspiratorially.

Zatanna smirked. "Just like his old man, huh?" she answered back. Shayera chuckled.

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!"

"Oh, chill out, Robby-kins," Harley said as she dropped down on the sofa and switched on the DVD player, inserting their copy of **_Advent Children_**. "Relax, you'll live longer."

"Oh, you did _not_ just call me 'Robby-kins'!" Robin said, glaring at the clown as Terra joined her.

"Sorry. We'll tell Starfire you don't like being called that," Ivy said dryly as she pulled off her gloves. At Zatanna and Shayera's curious looks, she leaned forward and said, _sotto voce_, "His girlfriend, although he won't admit it."

"Would you mind not spreading rumors about me?" Robin said, peeved.

"What about rumors?" Starfire said as she entered the room with Supergirl and Stargirl in tow, having volunteered to meet them on the roof. She therefore conveniently failed to notice the blondes' gaze instantly latching on to Robin, and twin looks that said 'WOW, he's hot!' being plastered on their faces.

"Nothing!" Robin said forcefully, eliciting snickers from the peanut gallery.

"Oh! Is this one of those 'nothings' that is really 'something'?" Starfire asked. "Would you tell me what it is if I give you a backrub?"

Robin gave Iseley a dirty look. "You've corrupted her," he accused.

She patted him on the cheek. "You're welcome."

Robin twitched.

It was right then that Raven returned. Good. Robin didn't think he could survive any longer. The other bird-boy was carefully carrying a crystal ball in his hands. It was about the size of a bowling ball and was either really heavy or really delicate. Floating next to Raven was a mount for the ball. Behind him was an appreciable collection of books.

"I am unsure as to which books contains the proper information," Raven said as he set the crystal ball on it's stand at the kitchen table. "Miss Zatara, Doctor, Sir Etrigan, would you be so kind as to search through them as I scry?"

The three arcana experts moved towards the books. Fate used his power to levitate several books at once, while Zatanna set three or four in front of her and started reading. Etrigan paused a moment, before rippling and changing back to Jason Blood. Grabbing a book, he went to make himself comfortable.

"And please be careful," Raven said as he raised his hands, holding them to either side of the sphere before him. "Those belonged to my mother."

Zatanna paused her multi-reading, looking at Raven in surprise. He had already begun to chant his words under his breath. Frowning slightly, she went back to her reading, resolving to ask Raven about that later.

"Hey, what about us?" Shayera said, sounding slightly annoyed as the four magic users went to work.

Cyborg lifted a pile of DVD cases. "I've got anime," he chimed.

Shayera was about to say something when she caught sight of the case on top. "Is that _Love Hina_?" she said. Well, they had time to kill, after all.

As Cyborg and Shayera moved to watch their anime– fortunately, Cyborg had a built-in projector they could hook the other, non-PS2 DVD player into– Robin sighed. Ivy and Starfire had joined Beast Boy and Harley. Figuring he had nothing better to do, he moved to join them.

"Um, nice place you've got here."

Robin blinked. He'd completely forgotten about Supergirl and Stargirl. "Um, thanks," he said.

"Mind showing us around?" Supergirl said, a friendly smile on her face as she took hold of his hand. Stargirl grabbed the other.

"Um, sure," Robin said, wondering why his danger sense was suddenly going off like crazy…

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Many hours later, Raven was still at it with the ball, Zatanna was leaning back, rubbing her eyes, Blood had crumbs at the corner of his mouth from lunch and Fate was still pretty much where they'd left him. Everyone else had migrated to the couch, where they were having a Love Hina marathon.

"I still say Su's gay," Harley said as they took a momentary break watching a set of closing credits. "Bi at least!"

"She's too young," Iseley said. "I like her room, though. Very nice."

"Forget her room," Cyborg said. "Give me a Mecha Tama-chan!"

"Shh, it's starting!" Supergirl said, leaning against Robin slightly. Given the fact that she'd been doing that for the past few hours, she was about half a foot away from sitting on his lap. Stargirl, on Robin's other side, was not to be outdone, and was pretty much in the same position as the other blonde. Starfire didn't seem to notice, too engrossed on the misadventures of Urashima Keitaro.

Robin's danger sense had switched to 'Feeling of Impending Doom'. He looked between the three girls, who were all more than capable than tearing each other apart, and prayed to anyone listening that they didn't turn on each other.

Shayera was making comments about Motoko's sword technique and how much better– and cuter, but she wouldn't say that out loud– Seta Soujiro was when there was a bright flash of light. That wouldn't go away.

"What the heck…?" Cyborg said as everyone covered their eyes to keep themselves from being blinded. Slowly, the light receded to a still-bright-but-tolerable level and remained constant. Raven and Fate never even looked up.

"We should check it out," Robin said, rubbing his eyes and trying to make the spots go away. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and it's a lead."

"At the very least we'll have something to do," Shayera said, hefting her mace.

"We'll come with you," Zatanna said as Jason Blood followed behind her. "If it _is_ a lead, then it's Axilano. You'll need our magic."

"Go," Fate said, not looking up from his books. "Call us if you need help. In the mean time, we shall continue to search."

"Aww, do we have to?" Harley said, pointing to the screen. "Mutsumi's about to kiss Naru!"

They all looked at her.

"I'm suddenly wondering as to the gay and bisexual comments from before…" Iseley muttered.

Robin gave her a _look_. "Hey, she's _your _partner."

"Um…" Terra ventured. "Very bright light shining outside our window?"

That snapped everyone out of the musings of the possibility that Harley might be… you know…

"Titans, GO!" Robin cried.

"League! Um…" Supergirl pondered. "You know, we need a catchy battle cry."

"Ahem!" Shayera intoned. Zatanna was snickering like crazy.

They eventually made it out the door, Supergirl and Stargirl still trying to think of a catch battle cry for the League.

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"I should have known," Robin groaned as they all stared at the figure in the weird suit hooked up what was eventually a giant light bulb.

"Titans!" Doctor Light (the male, villainous one) said, seemingly surprised by their appearance. "But how?"

"Next time you hatch an evil plot and want to keep it secret from us for as long as possible?" Terra said, smirking slightly as Ivy, Harley, Zatanna, Blood, Supergirl and Stargirl– who'd heard his exposition– stared at the villain in astonishment. "Try not to do it from somewhere we can see from our living room."

Light looked at them blankly, then over their heads to where Titans' Tower was visible in the distance, the windows facing his direction. "Oh."

Ivy turned to Robin. "_Please_ tell me I was never that stupid."

"Except for your occasionally very obvious aliases… no," Robin reassured her.

"Oh, good."

Harley, meanwhile, had been taking count. "Um, isn't this a little unfair? I mean, there are twelve of us and only one of him."

"Least you're finally on the winning side," Robin said. "Titans', GO!"

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Back in Titans' Tower, Raven and Fate were still at it, ignoring the bright flashes of light from the oilrig visible from the window.

Fate looked up at a sudden exclamation from Raven, in time to see the boy stagger away from his crystal ball, leaning against the kitchen counter. His was at his side immediately, summoning a glass of water and offering to the boy, who accepted it gratefully. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Raven took several deep drafts of the cool liquid (Fate had to refill it a couple of times). "I… wasn't able to get a very good view. There was… some kind of interference. But I did see something that causes me concern."

Raven straightened. "I saw a boy. A teenager, really. He was… trapped. I believe he might have been the one who brought Axilano into this world."

Fate nodded. "It is not unusual for children to dabble in things that they should not. Etrigan tells me that the spell that banished Axilano might be weakened by the proper spell of Merlin's."

"In any case, I believe I can track him down again," Raven said. "I just need more power and help in breaking through the interference. Perhaps the four– or perhaps I should say five–of us can succeed where I alone failed."

"I will call the others," Fate said, raising a hand to his communicator. "Zatanna? This is Fate. Raven believes he might have Axilano, but we need help from you and Blood."

There was the sound of hard breathing on other end of the line. "Little busy here, Doctor."

The two males in Titans' Tower exchanged glances.

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Surprising as it may seem, Doctor Light _was_ giving them problems.

He'd managed to trap Supergirl and Stargirl within linked hard-light bubbles, trapping the two of them. Supergirl's blows weren't strong enough to break the shield, and any attempts to use heat vision or energy blasts only made it stronger. Zatanna and Blood had been thrown off the oilrig. Terra had gone to fish them out. The rest were hard pressed to contain Light, finding that their numbers was something of a disadvantage in close quarters. So far, only Robin and, surprisingly, Harley had managed to avoid getting tagged by one of Light's attacks.

"Is it always like this?" Ivy panted to Robin during a breather as she rubbed her arm where a light-whip had grazed in passing, producing a nasty burn.

"Pretty much," Robin panted, a projectile in hand and ready to throw given an opening as Cyborg and Shayera tried to maneuver Light to their advantage.

"Funny, I don't remember being this frustrating," Ivy said, loading an arrow into her miniature wrist crossbow.

"No, you were one of the easy ones once we got past the plants, attempts at mind control and poisoning."

"Gee, thanks," Ivy said dryly.

"You realize you stole my first kiss when I was twelve, right?"

She paused. "Oh, yeah…sorry."

Robin nodded. "NOW!"

She and Robin both aimed for Light's exposed back, but at the last second he managed to dodge away. Ivy's bolt ricocheted off Cyborg's plating, while Shayera barely managed to mace Robin's shot.

The deck shuddered as Starfire showered starbolts on Light from above, trying to overwhelm him by sheer volume. Those that came too close bounced off his hard light shield as he nimbly danced away from the weakened points in the structure.

With a battle cry she stole from Shayera, Harley leapt at Light with her mallet, intent on drubbing him silly. He managed to trap her in one of his bubbles in midair though, narrowly avoiding getting bolted by Starfire. A beam of light streaked toward the Tamaranean, sending her flying at high speed. Two down.

"What was I saying about unfair?" Harley said as she used her mallet to futilely try to break the bubble. "Oh yeah, THIS IS SO UNFAIR! I THOUGHT HEROES DIDN'T GET THEIR ASSES KICKED BY ONE GUY!"

Light laughed as he landed in the middle of the deck, while Terra and two dripping wet sorcerers– a word from Zatanna and they were dry– joined the heroes ranks. "Foolish children. You are no match for the brilliance of DOCTOR LIGHT!"

Shayera's eyebrow twitched. "Children?"

"Do I really look that young?" Harley chirped from inside her bubble.

As Light began to charge up energy, there was a burst of radiance behind him as an Ankh-shaped form appeared. He whirled, bringing both glowing hands to bear as the heroes tensed, ready to spring…

Light's jaw dropped along with his hands, their energy dying away as the ankh faded to reveal two cloaked-and-caped figures. "Raven?"

Raven blinked, pushing his hood back. "Doctor Light?"

"WWWHHHHHAAAAA?" all the other heroes cried as they stumbled and facefaulted. Even the ones in the air.

Ouch.

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In the currently empty Titans' Tower, nothing stirred. The books were all gone, back wherever Raven kept them. Everything was still and peaceful, waiting for the owners of the house to return.

Then the demons started appearing.

In droves, they materialized out of nowhere, little vaguely humanoid things with disproportionately large claws, teeth and arms. A few looked like the love-children of the monsters of Resident Evil and Michael Jackson. Soon, the tower was crawling with them.

In the Tower's entry room, the demons were just beginning to roam when the front door suddenly opened, revealing a lone figure. All the demons paused, turning to this foolish being as he raised an eyebrow in surprise, before stepping forward and closing the door behind him.

He smirked as the demons slowly moved towards him, unholy looks of hunger on their faces. "_Lic lac la lac lilac…_"

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"Doctor," Raven said slowly, as if reprimanding a child, "you're wearing the suit again."

Everyone's jaws dropped as Doctor Light, powerful supervillain and mad scientist, suddenly looked embarrassed and guilty, trying to hide his gauntlet-covered arms behind his back. "Um, well, you see…"

Raven held out a hand. "Arthur," he said reprimandingly. "give me the controls."

Before everyone's astonished eyes, Light sheepishly began to remove his gauntlets, meekly handing them over to Raven.

Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore. "**WHAT THE F–**" Terra barely managed to bite off the curse. "JUST WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE? You know me, okay. We met when we were kids. You know Zatanna and Doctor Fate, fine; it must be a magic thing. You know Harley and Miss Iseley; a little bit of a stretch, but still good. BUT HOW THE HECK DO YOU KNOW DOCTOR LIGHT?"

Raven blinked at the verbal assault in surprise as Supergirl stuck a finger into her ear inside her bubble and muttered about noisy people with no consideration for those with super-hearing. He pointed at the now meek and embarrassed looking Doctor Light. "I used to live with him and his family," he said simply.

Everyone blinked. "Wha?"

They all looked at the supervillain, who seemed to be trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. "It's true," he said. "Raven used to live with me."

They all looked towards the boy, begging for an explanation.

"When I was younger, their family took me in," Raven explained. "Arthur, I thought the therapist specifically said that you shouldn't wear the suit and attempt to be a hero anymore."

Arthur Light shuffled uncomfortably under Raven's mild gaze. "Technically, I'm not attempting to be a hero…" he said lamely.

"Um, Raven? Explanation, PLEASE?" Robin said, feeling the situation already far from his control but trying to control it anyway.

Raven frowned and looked at Light questioningly. The man nodded reluctantly, and Raven proceeded to explain. "While I lived with the Light's, there was an accident. Mrs. Light and their daughter didn't survive."

Raven gestured at Light, whose eyes held a distant look. "Dr. Light never quite got over it. He was a researcher in S.T.A.R. labs, specializing in photonics at the time. He devoted himself to his research and succeeded in creating a suit capable of hard-light projection, photokinetic properties– in fact the very suit he's wearing right now." Raven nodded towards light, and he managed a sickly smile and a wave, wilting under the combined stares.

Raven continued. ""Eventually, he decided that he would wear the suit to fight crime. Arthur barely managed to survive, and the officials at S.T.A.R. labs had him put in therapy. The therapist had him stay away from the suit as part of his recovery, as well as cease his photonics research." Raven gave him a mildly accusing look. "I see those self-defense courses paid off."

Light shuffled again. "Technically, I'm not fighting crime…"

Raven sighed. "Anyway, I used to visit him a few times a year to keep an eye on him and make sure he visited his therapist, but after I started school, I wasn't able to anymore. I tried to visit him last year, but them I found out he'd moved away. Now I know where he'd moved to."

He looked at the Titans' beseechingly. "Arthur isn't a bad man. He's just… misguided and confused."

"Misguided and…" Robin said in astonishment.

"He promises not to do it again," Raven said, looking at him sideways. "Don't you, Arthur?"

Light nodded eagerly. "I promise, I swear!"

"That's all well and good," Robin said. "But what about all this?" He gestured at the deck of the rig, including the giant light bulb.

Raven shrugged. "Zatanna or I could fix any damage, and he really didn't hurt anyone. Perhaps a minor charge?"

Robin stared at him. "You're kidding me, right?"

"We took in Harley and Miss Iseley, after all," Raven said. "Why don't we just forget this ever happened. That it was a misunderstanding?"

"'A misunderstanding'?" Robin squeaked.

"Please?"

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Later, at the police station (Raven had gone with Light because the man might not be competent enough to speak for himself)…

The commissioner handed Raven the papers. "Well, he's in your custody now. Lucky for him that he managed to have his sentences lowered to community service."

"Thank you," Raven said politely. "I will ensure he completes his hours."

The officer nodded. "How's that demon thing coming along."

"We are working on it," Raven said. "We shall keep you informed as to any developments or need to evacuate the city."

The officer nodded and Raven took Light away, still wearing his suit, which had somehow not been confiscated.

Outside the police station, everybody was waiting.

"The paperwork is in order," Raven said.

Robin glared. "You realize that this is your responsibility?"

"Perfectly," Raven said. "Although I had to have Miss Iseley cited as a guardian as well, since I will be going to school come September."

Poison Ivy blinked as everyone stared at her. "Why me?"

"You are the most responsible adult I know," Raven said. "I hope you don't mind?"

"Um, no," Ivy said, eyeing the still embarrassed looking Light.

"This never happened in Gotham," Robin muttered.

Zatanna turned to Fate. "So, any word on Axilano?"

Fate nodded. "Perhaps we should return to the Tower before we tell you…"

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Titans' Tower was a mess.

"What the heck happened here?" Beast Boy said, eyeing all the damaged and unidentifiable liquids splashed everywhere. Everyone was instantly on guard, wary of some new danger. Doctor Light raised up his fists in a ready stance, his suit deactivated. He was still a capable fighter, however, and that was none of the suit's doing.

Raven knelt down to examine some of the ichor on the ground with a frown. "This is… demon blood," Raven said, looking at Etrigan, who had taken over, for confirmation. "A lot of demons died here."

"Minor demons," Etrigan added. "But demons nonetheless."

"Who could do this?" Starfire asked.

The door to the living room suddenly opened, and a demon ran in screaming, not seeming to notice them. His screams were cut halfway as a foot-long shard of ice impacted with his head. The demon fell to the ground and immediately started to smoke, dissolving into nothingness, leaving behind only the blood that had gushed from his fatal wound.

Raven blinked. "No," he said, starting to make for the door. "It can't be…"

"Raven?" Terra said, wondering what else it as now. Raven didn't answer, merely rushing through the doors the demon had passed through. Everyone looked at each other, crowded slightly, and followed him.

At the end of the hall, they were greeted to an astonishing sight.

A boy, looking roughly fourteen, was tearing at a pack of demons from a distance. Shards of ice, black blasts, shockwaves, fire, lightning and blades of wind were flying everywhere as the boy systematically ripped apart the demons in showers of blood. It all happened so fast that no one got a really clear view.

Raven was staring at the boy, who was dressed all in black, with a black trench coat. He was just impaling the last demon on a giant icicle that seemed to be attached to his arm.

"Do you regularly find you house being swarmed by demons, Rae?" the boy said, not turning around as he scanned the room.

"Keeper?" Raven said. The boy turned to face everyone, and they all gasped in surprise. Raven's face turned to look at them, one with a twinkle in his eyes, and a definite curve in his mouth.

Keeper grinned. "Hey, Rae. It's been a while…"

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**To be continued...**

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A/N: And Keeper's here. Finally.

I realize I've royally messed with continuity. _JLU_ side, this is after Shayera and Wondie's little trip to Tartarus but before the Captain Marvel Episode. _Way_ before. Titan-side, I guess about Season two, with everything Raven ever did replaced by Terra. There is no _Aftershock_.

Doctor Light has a family in my fic. I have no idea how the law really works when it comes to the custody of supervillains, so I'm taking a ton of liberties. But since we don't have supervillains here anyway, it's pretty much anything goes.

Also, please check out my other fics: **_Card Captor Harry_**, **_Card Captor Harry: Hong Kong_**, **_Harry Potter: Keeper of the Dark Heart_**, **_Uzumaki Harry_**, **_W-I-T-C-H: Duelist Knights and the Crown of Light!_**, and**_ Larxene and the Millennium Ring._**

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.

(Read '**_Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds_**' by **Sokai**, story id 2502930)


	11. Dark Heart, Black Soul

A/N: For anyone else who's curious, Keeper comes from my other story, **_Harry Potter: Keeper of the Dark Heart_**, hence his name. Check it out. So does the occasionally mentioned Cassidy, who is currently in my other story, **_WITCH: Duelist Knights and the Crown of Light!_**

I know Etrigan is supposed to talk in rhyme, but in the cartoon, he doesn't, so he doesn't here. Besides, if I tried to make him rhyme, it would have turned out horrible.

And on a final note, I now have fanart of Raven and Terra. Check it out on my profile.

--

Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 11: Keeper of the Dark Heart, Raven of the Black Soul

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans. The incarnation of Keeper is my invention, though I'm not sure I own him. Probably don't.

--

"Keeper?" Raven said.

His doppelganger grinned. "Hey, Rae. It's been a while…"

Behind Raven, everyone blinked.

"This is getting ridiculous," Tara muttered. "You know this guy too?"

There was a flicker, and the person identified as Keeper was suddenly standing right in front of Tara. "You're… Terra, right?" he said, grinning. "Raven's girlfriend? Rae's told me a lot about you."

Tara suddenly found herself inventing twenty new shades of red. "R-really?" she managed to squeak. Girlfriend? Did he just say girlfriend? Raven's girlfriend?

"Oh yes," the boy said, then slapped his forehead. "Oh, where are my manners. Permit me to introduce myself. I am the Keeper of the Dark Heart– which despite it's name is _not_ an artifact of evil– a traveler from another universe. I am, technically, an alternate version of Raven, and so I consider him a brother. Please, call me Keeper."

He smiled brightly, and Tara blushed some more. Wow, Raven looked very sexy when he… wait, this wasn't Raven…

"Ahem," Beast Boy articulated quite clearly, catching the Raven-look-alike's attention.

"Yes?" he said still smiling.

"Get away from Terra," Beast Boy said with exaggerated calm.

Keeper blinked, shrugged, and turned to Harley. "Hey, cutey. You single?"

Everyone gawked at this, Harley's eyes going wide at Keeper's flirting smile. Raven sighed, quite obviously looking at his watch. "A minute and a half you lasted. Congratulations, you've set a new record."

He was quite obviously being_ very, **very**_ sarcastic.

Keeper gave Raven a withering look as all those who really knew Raven gaped at him. "You know, Cassidy was a bad influence on you. Contrary to what you and she thinks, I do _not_ 'make inappropriate advances' on every cute girl older than me that I meet! There was Tonks, for example, and I never once flirted with that girl in that chocolate shop in Switzerland."

"No?" Raven said dryly.

"NO!" Keeper said, with a sniff. "So you can see, I don't flirt with every girl I meet. Just those who happed to be _really_ cute."

Harley blushed slightly at this, while the others wondered how come _they_ didn't rate.

"Ahem," Robin said, trying to regain some control. "Raven? Who is this guy? And better yet, what was he doing here?"

"I was just cleaning up a nasty surprise someone left here for you," Keeper said casually as he gestured to the quite obvious mess that the room was. Some kind of dark, thick liquid had been splashed all over the place, in a pattern that Robin found disturbingly familiar. Familiar, and sickening. "I'd just popped over to see Rae-kun and found the whole place calling with these demons that didn't look as peace-loving as my boy Raven here. What did you guys do, open the gates to Tartarus?"

"We're trying to track down a demon that appeared in the city," Raven said.

Keeper raised an eyebrow. "Can I help?"

"It would be appreciated."

"AHEM?" Robin repeated. "That's good and all, but what makes you think we can trust you?"

Keeper pointed. "You have three supervillains with you right now just on Raven's say-so, don't you?"

Robin twitched. Oh yeah. He'd forgotten about that.

"He has a point, Rob," Cyborg said.

'Fearless leader' narrowed his eyes at the intruder. "And just how do you know that?"

Keeper jerked a thumb at Raven. "He told me telepathically."

Everyone turned to look at Raven.

"He's the telepath," Raven clarified, and everyone switched back.

Supergirl leaned towards Terra. "Does this happen often?" she whispered.

"Only since Raven joined up," she whispered back.

--

It took a while for them to get back to business, what with the new arrival and all. Robin, for some reason, was even more suspicious of Keeper's presence than he was of Doctor Light (who was quietly sitting in the corner reading the newspaper, as per Raven's instructions). There was much questioning, grilling, attempts at looming, and basically Robin playing bad cop. It didn't work quite as well, since the person he was doing it on just kept smiling, responded politely, and occasional said something like 'so, when are you going to take Starfire home to meet the family?'

Needless to say, by the time he was reasonably satisfied, Robin now had a new facial tick. He also might be developing a hate of the interloper.

This instantly made him friends with Harley and Isley, who really liked seeing the Boy Wonder 'lose it', no matter how small.

After cleaning the Tower of demon blood and letting Etrigan have the demon he'd had the foresight to freeze and stick in a closet for later ("Always have someone to interrogate," Keeper had said cheerfully), Keeper had cheerfully planted himself on a stool close to Raven and watched as the other boy try to regain the contact he'd earlier that evening.

"So how long do you think it'll be before you reestablish contact?" Keeper asked, his back arced and against the table, looking at Raven upside-down as the other boy sat down in front of his crystal ball.

"Faster if no one distracts me," Raven said, not looking at him.

"Are you being snippy?" Keeper said, sounding too astonished to be believable. "I didn't teach you that!"

"No, you didn't," Raven said. "Now scoot along, big brother."

Keeper did so, looking both amused and indignant. "Snippy _and_ sarcastic," Keeper muttered as he moved towards the sofa where the non-magic superbeings had congregated to wait. Fate and Etrigan were busy with the demon he'd captured, and Zatanna was doing a scryig spell of her own.

Looking down at the assembled Titans- Robin seemed to be occupied trying to keep Supergirl _and_ Stargirl from sitting completely on his lap- Keeper asked, "Just for the record, which of you taught Raven to be snippy?"

At this, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy squirmed slightly. She'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed a few days ago, and this hadn't been in the best of moods that morning. Thus, she hadn't been exactly pleasant company during breakfast, where she'd gotten into an argument with Beast Boy over protecting plants versus protecting animals. She'd nearly reduced the boy to… well, not exactly tears, but he'd called her a 'meanie' all day, which was tantamount to 'damned bitch' in his vocabulary. A few days later, Raven had started acting the same way. Fortunately, Harley was first on the recieving end of it, meaning she shrugged it off and asked why Raven was being snippy. When he told her, he immediately got a 'Harleen Quinzel- psychiatrist' lecture on emotions, behavior and manners. _Isley _had gotten a long rant on corrupting the most impressionable mind on the planet.

The squirm might have been enough to single her out, but everyone suddenly looked at her, leaving no chance to deny it. It was true, after all.

What happened next surprised her. Keeper leaned around the sofa and gave her a kiss on the cheek, lingering ever so slightly as he did so. "Thanks," he said. "I wasn't sure how I was going to teach him that."

Grinning, he made himself comfortable on the couch and settled to watch **_Full Metal Panic_**.

--

They didn't watch long after that, though. Finding out about the new guy- Doctor Light didn't count, really. They knew him- was more fun, so as soon as the credits started rolling, everyone turned to gang up on Keeper.

Predictably, Isley started everything.

"What," she said, "was that for?"

Keeper tilted his head, smile still firmly in place. "The kiss? I was congratulating you on doing something I wasn't able to. I tried, really, but I could never teach Raven to be snippy. Something about 'Miss Quinzel's lectures', and 'politeness and manners'."

Harley blinked, not sure what to make of that.

Terra peered intently at Keeper. "What do you mean, 'teach'?"

The smile was slightly bigger. "Haven't you wondered why Raven's so different now? Acting less like Mr. Spock, maybe?"

Light (he'd finished with his newspaper and was just standing around), Terra, Isley and Harley all stared at him. "Do you mean to say that..." Isley said slowly.

"Let's just say that Raven's emotional bursts of uncontrolled magic hurt _a lot_," Keeper said with a grimace.

"What do you mean, 'bursts of uncontrolled magic'?" Stargirl asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I mean those bursts of magic that occur when Raven gets emotional," Keeper explained for the benefit of those not in the know. Light and the three girls looked like they knew exactly what he was talking about. "They happen whenever Raven feels a strong emotion- heck sometimes just a _weak_ emotion! Even annoyance can shatter windows. I'd hate to think what real anger would do."

Beast Boy, Cyborg, Robin and Starfire all turned to look at Raven. Heck, Stargirl, Supergirl and Shayera did too. "But Raven frequently emotes without causing such reactions as you imply," Starfire said eloquently.

"I find it pretty hard to believe," Robin said. "Raven is one of the most controlled, disciplined person I know."

"Why do you think he is?" Keeper countered.

"It's true, Robby," Harley said suddenly, a haunted look in her eyes. Isley was shaking as she clutched her knees, looking like a frightened child. "I saw it happen once. Puddin', um, _accidentally_ hit Rae with his gas and, well... remember the block of buildings that got crushed a couple of years ago?"

It was the use of the word 'crushed' that reminded Robin. Buildings got demolished in Gotham a lot, scheduled or not, but in the last six years, the word 'crushed' could only be applied to one time when...

Robin stared in horror at Raven, his blood turning to ice.

"I was trapped down there for two days," Isley said, and Harley laid a comforting arm around her shoulder. The botanist leaned into the hug, her voice shaking slightly. "It was Raven who found me and pulled me out."

"And you're letting him live here?" Supergirl hissed a bit shrilly. "We wouldn't let him get anywhere near the Watchtower!"

Terra glared at the girl, even as Light looked disapprovingly at her. If looks could kill, the Argosian would already be dead.

"It was the Joker's fault," Keeper said. "Rae didn't have the control then that he does now. Besides, I've found out the hard way that doing _anything_ that messes with his head is a _big_ no-no. It was nearly fatal when I induced rage in him."

"You WHAT?" Light, Isley, Harley and Terra cried.

Keeper shrugged. "I was young and stupid. Sue me."

"Do you have a death wish?" Harley said dryly- and quite ironically, given her dating history.

"No," Keeper said easily. "Worrying about dying is just a lower priority for me. That's one of the reasons I managed to teach Raven how to control his powers and emotions. That, and I didn't want him growing up like some kind of Vulcan."

Terra frowned. "Wait, you mean..."

"I risked life, limbs and possibly soul to get that kid to laugh," Keeper said wryly. "Not a full success yet- showing happiness is still lethal- but at least he's a 'progressing work in progress'."

The three girls stared at him... and the guys promptly became jealous or amused as Keeper found three females trying to be the first to shower him with kisses amidst cries of 'THANK YOU!'.

"I hope you don't mind if I just say 'thank you for helping Raven'," Light said dryly as he and the others watched the resulting tangle.

After getting the three girls off him, Keeper was asked the next logical question.

"How the heck do you know Raven?" Robin finally asked. "It's like everyone and their granny knows him somehow."

Keeper leaned back, shamelessly snuggling against Harley as he did so without seeming to notice. "Well, it all happened last summer..."

--

Keeper was well into a recitation of the events of the previous year– although no one was believing the part about the dragon– when he paused in mid-speech, blinking and turning to look around just as Zatanna's scrying spell exploded in her face.

The countertop she'd been using suddenly burst into emerald flames, the force of it sending the mage flying back an impressive distance where she lay on the ground, stunned.

Those on the couch were already moving at the before she'd even landed, Robin reaching for the fire extinguisher under the table while Starfire flew for the first-aid kit. Robin had just begun blasting the foam on the flames– which he was slightly disturbed to see was making faces at him– when he realized not _all_ of them had headed for the fallen Leaguer.

Keeper had taken an alternate course and was thus in time to catch Raven as he suddenly threw back his head and screamed, a flailing hand causing his crystal ball to roll. It suddenly stopped rolling just short of the edge without anything touching it as Raven writhed on the floor, clutching his head in both hands and making pained sounds.

Somewhere in the Tower, there was a loud cry.

Instinct took over and Robin snapped, "Terra, take care of him," just as Shayera said, "Supergirl, find out what that was."

The two blondes shared a look before going off to do as they'd been told.

The rush of air that accompanied Supergirl's exit at super speed got the ball rolling again– literally– and Terra skidded to a stop in time to keep it from going over the edge. Carefully, she put it back on it's stand, then put the stand on the floor to reduce the risk of falling. Raven probably wouldn't like it if anything happened to his crystal ball. Only when she was sure it was secure did she kneel down next to Raven and Keeper.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, kneeling down and trying not to get hit by Raven's legs as they twitched and kicked.

"Something's attacking his mind," was the rather distracted answer. Distracted or not, it chilled Terra's soul. "if the tower starts shaking, try to stop any earthquakes this may cause. And have Zatanna try and counter any telekinetic bursts. I won't be able to."

Next to them, a metal cupboard door buckled for emphasis.

Closing His eyes, Keeper put a hand on the side of Raven's head…

--

Raven had been absorbed in his scrying. That tended to happen. He'd be so intent on an activity that the outside world would fade away– in this particular case, more so. This was why he could do his homework wearing Robin's night vision goggles without being distracted by the movie, why he never noticed the looks Snape sometimes used to give him during class, and why he never noticed how lousy he felt when he was younger and doing absolutely _everything_ to block out emotions.

Anyway, he'd been so absorbed in his scrying, that when he'd found a hint of what he was looking for, he forgot certain things, like that fact that he wasn't doing this alone. And the fact that last time he'd tried this, he'd come off being sick. He also made a very stupid mistake.

He didn't think that, after the first contact, he might be expected.

_Hello, little blackbird_, was the first indicator that Raven was in deep shit.

He then found himself battling for his mental integrity as Axilano assaulted his psyche. His physical self, however, had lost contact with the crystal ball, which was a double-edged sword. It had acted as focus for his scrying and without it, Axilano's assault had gotten weaker. But given the distance his mind, his soul-self, had gone, loss of contact also made it more difficult to return to himself.

To make matters worse, Axilano's presence had steadily gotten stronger as Raven tried to make his way back to his body. The small– so to speak– psychic cuts were growing and accumulating. Raven's wings were tattered, his back riddled with cuts. And he was being toyed with.

_The gem was born of evil's fire, the gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal… _Axilano sang.

Over and over, he flayed Raven with those accursed words, words he'd known for a long time, words he'd tried to forget for almost as long. He hadn't thought of them in two years, and now they were back, lines of fire over his soul…

He tried to run, faster and faster. And always, Axilano was there, toying with him, ripping him apart with those hateful words…

_The gem was born of evil's fire, the gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal…_

_I have no gem,_ Raven tried to say in protest, but there was only dark, evil laughter. He knew that didn't matter…

Them a dark presence loomed ahead, tendrils of icy cold suddenly engulfing him. Axilano didn't slow, tearing through these like they were wet tissue…until he ran into something that felt like a steel wall covered in flaming, spiked drills that sought out anything that moved. Each cut was cold, the flames icy, and Axilano backed off slightly, taking in this intruder on his fun.

It was Dark, in a way he couldn't quite place, but Dark nonetheless, it's surface rippling, pulsing in time to the beating of a heart. Yet different. Not in the way the black bird was different. The black bird's Darkness was diluted, perverted, impure. This was pure, and yet… different.

It also felt Old. And old usually meant power.

_**You won't hurt him**, _it commanded, and more black tendrils surrounded the black bird, covering him until he was almost hidden within folds of pure, yet different Darkness. And it kept him back from the black bird. That made it something he could chew.

_He is mine_, Axilano said, and struck. The Dark presence rippled, before contracting to almost the same form as before.

_**No… he is not**,_ and that was when the tendrils struck, ripping into him. They were weak, but they were many, seeking vengeance for the black bird…

A face, staring at him… _mortal…_

_Mortal!_ Axilano scorned, and fought against the tendrils with renewed vigor, vigor that was wasted as they struck at him even harder than before, their freezing cold and strange Darkness ripping into him painfully.

**S****o? I can still hurt you, here… Leave Raven alone… or else…**

Furious, Axilano switched tactics, breaking into chant, trying to instill the doubt that was evil's best weapon: _The gem was born of evil's fire, the gem shall be–_

**_Trigon's meal ticket to get into Earth and get his butt handed to him by a bunch of teenagers, yes, yes, we all know that song and dance_**, was the bored interruption. **_Now, get out of my brother's HEAD!_**

Surprised by the response, Axilano wasn't able to resist as he was given the mental equivalent of a drop kick and sent away…

Alone, the Darkness encircled the black bird, gently touching the tattered wings and cuts in the most non-yaoi way possible. **_Raven… it's all right Raven… I've got you… wake up…_**

Keeper opened his eyes.

--

"A little breathing room, please?" an annoyed voice said, and there was scrambling as everyone tried to back away from the two look-alikes without bumping into the buckled cupboard doors or kicking the crystal ball off it's stand. "Thank you."

Smoothly, Keeper picked up Raven and stood, cradling his head carefully and obviously working to _not_ tangle his hands in Raven's cloak. "Where's his room?" Keeper asked, and immediately looked annoyed when no one answered. "Look, his mind has just had the equivalent of a close encounter with a rapist. He _really_ needs to rest and somehow I don't think he'll be too comfortable on the floor or the sofa. Now, _where's his room_?"

Terra began to move towards the doors. "Follow me."

"Thank you," he said, then started walking after her. "So, what happened while I was in 'the land of the mind'?"

"That demon Etrigan and Fate were interrogating self-destructed," Shayera said, falling into step on his right side as Robin came up his left. "They're in the infirmary, mostly getting cleaned up. Zatanna will be fine. Harley managed to patch her up, and Cyborg and Light took her to the infirmary. Light needed to go there anyway, considering those hits he took."

Keeper nodded. "It's always nice when there aren't any fatal wounds," he said conversationally. "Can someone carry the crystal ball? I don't think Raven would appreciate us leaving it on the floor."

There were various sounds as someone picked it up, followed by "NO! HARLEY, PUT THAT DOWN!" which was also followed by "NO, BEAST BOY, GIVE THAT TO ME!", "Look, you're overreacting and– whoops!" and finally "CATCH IT!" and "BEAST BOY, I'LL KILL YOU!"

"They sound like they're having fun," Keeper said dryly as the door closed behind them. A moment later, a frowning Poison Ivy came out, carrying the crystal ball and the obviously heavy stand. Wordlessly, Robin moved to help her.

"So, what happened?" Shayera said, taking up the slack. She pointed at her head. "Up there, I mean."

"The demon he was trying to track– at least I _think_ it was– tried to mind-rape him," Keeper said, the undercurrent of anger very cold. "I stopped it and kicked him out."

Shayera frowned. While she didn't like the thought of someone being 'mind-raped', it looks like they'd gone nowhere. "So we're back to square one."

"Oh no," Keeper said, still following Terra. "I'll find him."

"_You'll_ find him?" Robin said skeptically, carrying the stand. It seemed Ivy hadn't wanted to part with the crystal ball. "How?"

Keeper turned to look at him, and Robin and Ivy felt shivers run up their spines with freeze rays, blasting everything in their path as they went up and down. The smile on the face that looked so much like Raven was something that shouldn't be there; there was something unholy about it. "Oh, I'll find him. He's given me motivation now, motivation and a scent to work on. I'll find him if I have to rip through every level of dimensions and pocket universes this world has."

"In here," Terra said, gesturing towards an open door. Keeper nodded his thanks, moving to lay Raven down on the bed and take his cloak of so he wouldn't tie himself up in it. He straightened out the cloak, made sure the pin was in place– wouldn't do to lose it, after all– went to hang it in the closet… and stared at it's contents. He looked at Raven, who now had Terra trying to get him in a comfortable position to sleep in, then at the closet again.

"Why," he said, "does Raven have nothing but tights in his closet?"

"It's body armor," Robin said.

"It's hero-wear. That makes it tights. Why does Raven have nothing but this stuff in his closet? I know for a fact he has at least one pair of jeans and a fishnet shirt."

Terra twitched. Over by the desk, where she was putting the crystal ball on it's stand, Ivy raised and eyebrow.

"Fishnet shirt?" Terra said shakily as Poison Ivy quickly clamped a hand over her mouth in a not-so-subtle- attempt to hide a smile.

"Yes, fishnet shirt," Keeper said, looking for a coat hanger for the cloak. "He's got a Speedo too, but I'm not sure if it fits anymore–"

"Excuse me," Poison Ivy said hurriedly as she rushed out of the room, she shoulders starting to shake. The closing doors just managed to let in the start of a laugh.

Keeper smiled, obviously satisfied with himself as he hung the cloak. "Raven should be fine after a night's rest and judging from how much I was able to rip out of the demon, he won't be bothering anyone for a while tonight."

"Are you sure about that?" Shayera asked.

"No," Keeper answered, pulling up Raven's desk chair. "That's why I'll be watching him all night to make sure it doesn't happen again." With that, he sat down, leaned back and propped both feet on the bed, obviously intending to stay there a while. "You can turn off the lights on your way out. I don't mind."

"Raven should be in the infirmary," Robin said, a token objection.

"Does your infirmary have anything for _mind rape_ victims? No? Then there's no point."

The look directed at him was one Robin didn't think Raven's face was capable of… until now. It was disturbing, seeing a stranger who looked like a friend, answering in something like the friends voice– this Keeper's voice wasn't husky– using expression's with a friend's face. There were differences– this stranger's eyes were green, not amethyst, his hair black instead of purple– but the similarities numbered so much it was still disturbing. He tamped down on the involuntary shudder that went through him and turned sharply for the door. A few moments later, he heard a second set of footsteps following him. The door swung open and he disdainfully flicked off the lights. "Have a nice night," he said over his shoulder as he went out the hall.

"Nice Batman exit," Shayera said conversationally after they'd gotten a little distance from the closed door.

Robin allowed himself a little grin. "Well, I did learn from the best."

It took a while before he realized he only heard one other set of footprints and turned around. Terra wasn't there.

--

"Do you need a light?" the voice said in the darkness, breaking through the strangely melodious humming from before.

"I'm fine," Terra said, sitting as she was at the head of Raven's bed, one hand playing with a few stray strands of his hair. "So, you were saying about the dragon…?"

A ripple of movement in the darkness outlined against the window as he tiled his head to one side. "Well, like I was saying, _I_ was panicking and Cassidy was panicking, but all Raven does is tilt his head and say 'Norbert?'…"

--

"Hey, where's Terra?" Beast Boy said when Robin came back through the door. Shayera had gotten a call and was taking it in the hall.

"With Raven," Robin said, his annoyance leaking through the attempt at staying cool.

"Oh. Okay," Beast Boy said.

"Where's that Keeper guy?" Supergirl asked, stating the obvious other question.

"With Raven," Robin managed to ground out.

"WHAT?" Beast Boy said, wide-eyed.

"He says he's going to stay close to Raven in case Axilano tries to mess with his mind again," Robin said, in tones that said he was doubtful about the truth of that statement.

"The exact term he used was 'mind rape'," Shayera said as she entered the room, her call obviously concluded. "Stargirl, Kara, you're supposed to go back to the Watchtower. Something about it not being appropriate to sleep over without proper supervision."

"WHAT?" the two girls said, in tones remarkably similar to Beast Boy's.

"They want you back home," Shayera continued, then a ghost of a smile played on the Thanagarian's lips. "I think they don't want you hanging around Robin any longer than necessary."

Robin muttered something along the lines of "I hate Nightwing for passing me that rep" that Supergirl heard perfectly well and everyone else got the gist of.

"A-_ny_ way…" Shayera said. "You two are getting beamed up in five minutes… four minutes, forty seconds ago."

For some reason, the two girls pouted. Then they looked at each other, the way some people do, and walked up to either side of Robin. Supergirl laid one hand on his shoulder. Stargirl laid one on the other.

"Thanks for showing us around handsome," Stargirl said.

"Don't be a stranger," Supergirl added.

Robin froze more completely than those times he'd been freeze-rayed as the two planted a kiss on each cheek, just as they were caught by the transporter beams. He blinked, slowly looking around. Everyone had looks that ranged from amusement to surprise to just raised eyebrows, except for…

"Robin," Starfire said, frowning slightly, "what was that?"

"Um, they were being friendly?" he said, and tried to ignore the sudden snickering from Harley and Isley.

Starfire's eyes narrowed, glowing just the faintest bit green. "I thought that a female placing her lips on any part of a male's body– especially the face– was an intimate action."

Robin gulped. "That really depends on the person in question, and–"

Isley and Harley sat back, gesturing for Shayera to do the same as Beast Boy went to get the caramel popcorn. "Welcome to another exciting episode of 'All My Titans'," Isley narrated dryly as the two began to descend into what was obviously a jealousy-spouted incident with liberal doses of denial on both sides.

Shayera raised an eyebrow as Beast Boy came back with the food. "Does Batman know about this?"

"Nope," Beast Boy said. "Please don't tell him?"

Shayera looked at the two Titans' arguing about kisses. Then she reached for some popcorn…

--

"By the way," Keeper said, interrupting a story about how he managed to get Raven to dress up as a ninja. "That was Hawkgirl with the wings, right?"

"Yeah," Terra said.

"Why was she dressed in a girl's school uniform?"

--

**- To be continued…**

--

A/N: Akamatsu jokes next chap. Count on it.

By the way, in case you missed it the first time, there is now fanart of Raven and Terra on my profile page.

Please review, C&C welcome. Flames will be given to Keeper, who will then feed it to you rectally.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	12. Second Wave

A/N: a warning to all. I'm going to be taking a long time from now on, so be patient, and visit other fandoms while you're waiting… or better yet, my other fics! Or how about my Deviant Art account? It's "shadow-crystal-mage dot deviantart dot com". You should all know how to translate that.

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 12: "Second Wave" or "Of Setsuna, Konoka, And Too Much Anime And Final Fantasy"

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

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When Robin came to the living area after checking up on Zatanna, Blood, Fate and Light down at the infirmary, Keeper was already puttering around in the kitchen. For a moment, just the briefest of moments, he thought it was Raven; the boy tended to wake up early and start breakfast. But the moment disappeared, and he saw the intruder for who he was. There was no omnipresent blue cloak, worn even indoors, only the swishing tail of a black coat. The hair gleamed black, not deep indigo, and the eyes, though gem-like, were emeralds rather than amethysts. Mildly tanned skin that was in no way grayish flashed as fingers mixed and poured batter into the waffle-iron, every movement languid and relaxed, yet somehow cheerful as opposed to Raven's smooth, graceful, deliberate economy and efficiency.

Suspicion and mistrust immediately reared their heads. Robin did _not_ like the self-declared "Keeper of the Dark Heart", did not want him around, and was very much afraid of him. Yes, afraid. One would think that the Boy Wonder would be more inclined to have his reaction when presented with the personages of, say, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, who he had a lot of history and near-death experiences with, or even Doctor Light, who had been actively trying to kill him mere seconds before Raven had shown up and called Light a friend. Yet of all the 'friends' Raven had brought in, Robin had not been inclined to be blasé about the newest boy's presence. To a degree, it had something to do with 'better the devil you know'; Robin knew Light, Ivy and Harley. He did _not_ know this new boy.

But the brunt of his fear– yes _fear_!– stemmed from the fact that the other boy _knew_ entirely too much. The look on his face when he'd teased– _teased_!– Robin about bringing Starfire home to 'meet the family' had not been one expecting Batman to chew him out, but rather one who knew the teasing he'd get when Nightwing and Batgirl found out (he had nightmares about Babs making comments about "Robins and redheads").

His fear was driven home when Keeper (what kind of a name was _that_?), not looking up from what he was doing, said "Good morning, Master Tim. Fine day, isn't it? Breakfast?"

The fact he got Alfred's accent and intonation down perfectly was just icing on the cake. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was a grenade on top of a nuke.

Robin glared at the amused almost smirk that a girl had once likened to a boy named Draco Malfoy that was being directed his way. "What do you want?" he demanded, assessing threats and possibilities over a cloud of 'Bruce is going to lose it when he finds out'.

Keeper shrugged, putting the finished waffles on a plate and setting a frying pan on the stovetop after putting in new batter. "From you? Nothing. I'm just letting you know exactly how much I know… which is pretty much every secret identity on the planet, and then some. Putting my cards on the table and letting on I know yours. Which do you prefer, sausage or bacon?"

When Robin ket on glaring at him, Keeper sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I teased you, okay? That was very rude of me, considering I'm a guest and you're my host. I'm not asking you to like me, but can we at least get along in public for Raven's sake? You _know_ how he can be about his friends getting along."

Robin kept on glaring. "One word…" he threatened.

"Not a one," Keeper said, 'zipping' his mouth with a smile. "Your secrets are safe with me."

Nodding curtly, Robin glared at the food on the table– his face seemed stuck like that– before opening a cabinet and pulling out a few small– personal-sized– boxes of cereal. Milk was gotten from the fridge. He paused a moment, then pulled out a package from the freezer. "Beast Boy doesn't eat meat."

"I know," Keeper said, accepting the package. "Thanks. I didn't know if I could conjure tofu."

Robin eyed the food as he began assembling his cereal, deciding the leave the subject alone. At least he knew this food wasn't tampered with. He opened a new carton of milk, noting that much of the last batch had already gone into the batter. "Why waffles?"

Keeper smiled. "I've heard Cyborg likes them."

"Oh?" Robin said. "What else have you heard?"

"Well…" Keeper seemed to consider his words for a moment, resulting in the latest batch of waffles getting slightly scorched. Hastily, he pulled them out, then checked on the frying pan, putting in a fresh batch of sausage. "I've heard Batman has a thing for Wonder Woman."

Robin snorted. "_Right…_" he drawled. Maybe he had nothing to be afraid of…

"Don't believe me?" Keeper said, putting in new batter. "Bring the subject up around Zatanna, wait for her denial, start humming 'Am I Blue', and watch her reaction."

"I'll keep it under advisement."

Keeper made a disinterested gesture, as if to say he'd done all he could. Then he paused. "Hey, do you know why Hawkgirl is wearing a girl's school uniform?"

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By the time the others finally woke up– demon on the loose or not, the Titans were still teenagers– there was a veritable mountain of waffles on the table, as well as tons of sausages and bacon. Cyborg looked like the hinge for his jaw had broken off as he drooled at the food.

Shayera merely raised an eyebrow. She'd watched the Flash eat, after all, and this was only a little bit indulgent for him. "What's the occasion?" she asked, grabbing a fork and spearing a sausage.

"Breakfast," that weird boy, Keeper, said cheekily. "The most important meal of the day."

The Titans and Shayera all crowded around the table while Robin went down to the infirmary to tell the ones there that food was ready. Harley and Cyborg immediately started pigging out, barely using the plate as anything but a brief stopover. Starfire was pouring liberal amounts of mustard on her food, which roiled Shayera's stomach. The others didn't react, too used to Starfire's eating habits.

"How's Raven?" Isley asked, and everyone paused as they looked at the almost-clone, who was in the process of buttering a waffle.

His eyes narrowed darkly and a twitch developed in his hand. He dropped the knife he was using to butter. "He's okay. Should be fine when he finally comes down to eat. Is the Joker conscious?"

Everyone blinked, then looked at Harley. "Uh no, Mistah J still has his brain fried."

"Pity," Keeper said reminiscently. "I wanted to borrow a few ideas to use on Axilano… that _is_ the demon's name, right?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Isley said, knowing perfectly well what horrors the Joker could think up.

"Revenge," Keeper said easily. "And while ripping a pound of flesh or ten of Axee's hide sounds appealing, I was hoping for something more imaginative and painful."

"Dude, do you mind? We're _eating_ here!" Beast Boy said.

What little tension there was popped like a bubble, and Keeper laughed. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."

"You're crazy," Harley said matter-of-factly, before breaking out into a big, welcoming smile. "I like you."

Keeper tilted his head. "Keeper of the Dark Heart," he said, extending his hand across the table.

"Harley Quinn," she said, shaking hands enthusiastically. "Nice ta meetcha."

"Oh great," Isley muttered just loud enough for Shayera to hear. "_Two_ lunatics, Cyborg and Beast Boy. What did I do to deserve this…? … Wait, never mind."

Shayera, not sure what to make of the breakfast banter, went back to eating. Robin and those from the infirmary soon joined them, looking refreshed and immediately digging in. No one brought up demons again, except to ask about Raven and be told he was still sleeping, but should be waking up soon.

Had that been all, things would have gone smoothly, but unfortunately, Shayera soon became aware of a penetrating stare. She tried to ignore it– once upon a time, she would have just gotten in the guy's face– but she was eating, darn it, and she did not need an audience.

Looking up, she stared Keeper right in the eye. "Yes?" she said, arching her eyebrow.

He returned the gaze unabashedly. "What the _heck_ are you wearing?"

"I thought you already said it was a girl's school uniform," she heard Robin murmur.

She ignored him. "None of your business," she said, not as forceful as she would usually be. They were having breakfast, after all.

The green-eyed brat wouldn't leave it alone, however, tilting his head and staring at her necktie. "Mahora?"

Shayera reached up and tried to jerk the tie off her neck, aware that Zatanna and Blood were studiously not looking at her, their faces too smooth, although Zatanna's lips were twitching. Cyborg was grinning outright, reading… oh, (BLEEP) he was reading 6…!

Blinking, Keeper and some of the others on the table followed her gaze, locking on to the cover of the manga Cyborg was holding. The infernal brat took one look at it, twitched, and fell of his stool laughing his head off.

"Sakurazaki… Setsuna…" he managed to choke out between debilitating fits of laughter. "You're… dressed… as… Sakurazaki… Setsuna!"

Cyborg and Zatanna were openly snickering now, and Blood (damn him… oh, wait, he already was) was still keeping his face perfectly smooth, in that way that made it obvious he– and Etrigan, most likely– were laughing their damned heads off. The little brat was kicking his feet in the air, laughing so hard he was crying, while Robin, Beast Boy, Isley and Starfire stared and wondered what the big joke was. Fate just ignored everything, eating sedately as if people laughing like maniacs around him was perfectly normal. Although how he managed to eat without removing his helmet was a mystery to Shayera. Light just kept on eating.

"What happened to the days when everyone was intimidated by me?" she grumbled, spearing a sausage savagely.

"They ended when you started wearing a girl's school uniform to the office," Zatanna blurted out, and she joined the brat in laughing her head off, Cyborg not far behind.

"And they call _me_ a traitor," the Thanagarian grumbled.

"This poses an interesting question though," Keeper said, once he and the other two had recovered sufficiently to sit on their stools. He looked at Shayera, mouth quirked and looking like he was trying not to laugh until he got the punch line out. "If you're Setsuna, then who's Konoka?"

That confused everyone even further, although Zatanna, Cyborg, and _Jason_ (damn him… oh wait…) had oddly thoughtful looks on their faces. Shayera reached under the table and hefted the powered-down haft of her mace. Just one flick was all it would to take to energize…

"Hmm… well, it's got to be someone with magic… someone cute…" Cyborg mused.

"I hope it's not me," Zatanna added, promptly drawing attention.

"Why not?" Jason asked, finally admitting he was part of the conspiracy to drive Shayera insane.

"She's always a damsel in distress. Just look at books four to six, and eight," Zatanna pointed out, adding, "Besides, she's always butt-naked when it happens, and it always seems to be just a hair away from being hentai…"

Zatanna became uncomfortably aware that Blood was giving her a penetrating gaze, Cyborg was looking at her slack-jawed, and Keeper was sporting a small nosebleed. She narrowed her eyes at them. "_What_?"

"You realize that the chain of you, Konoka and naked is now firmly glued into our heads, right?" Keeper said, dabbing at the blood on his face. His eyes widened, and he grinned widely, the blood suddenly flowing again. "Not to mention all the KonoSetsu ideas that goes with it…"

Cyborg finally spurted his own nosebleed as Blood's face became suspiciously smooth.

"What happened to the quality of the breakfast conversation around here?" Robin muttered despairingly.

----------------------------------------

Raven woke up to the gentle strains of music. For a moment, he just lay there, looking at the ceiling as a distant-feeling part of him recognized the soft, tinkling tones of the music box Keeper used to ward away silence as he slept.

He felt better, he realized, the seemingly searing tears Axilano had inflicted on his mind, his soul, reduced to low, barely discernible throbs. The boy recognized Keeper's handiwork, the cool, cold, dark lingering presence of the Dark Heart's magic feeling like salve on his astral form. Laced underneath, it all, woven into all the Heart's power, a remnant of Keeper's Auramere, a feeling that was distinctly _him_, separate from the Legacy of Kin Xia. He wondered if his– how did he used to put it?– _mou hitori no boku_, his brother now– older brother, he corrected himself– knew he had three distinct kinds/sources of magic. He probably did…

His musings trailed off as he detected another sound beneath the music box tones of 'Eyes On Me' his senses stretched towards active detection, feeling the familiar warm glow of Tara's presence, only to wince as the mental equivalent of a muscle ache went through him. His physiology and whatever healing Keeper did had worked wonders– one of the (questionable) benefits of his half-demon ancestry– but he still wasn't completely well.

Nevertheless, he was certain he felt better than Tara would after sleeping with that awkward crick in her neck. The blonde girl was half-sitting, half lying at the head of the bed. One hand lay on the pillows near Raven's head, the other rested on her thigh at an awkward pose– that would hurt too. Her long hair fell in a lank curtain before her face, only part of one eye visible due to the aforementioned awkward neck crick. Had she slept there all night?

Raven closed his eyes, briefly going through a quick concentration exercise to focus himself before pusing himself up on his elbow and turning awkwardly to rouse her. Unfortunately, this disrupted the delicate distribution of bodyweight that had kept her upright all night. The girl unceremoniously toppled on Raven, whose elbow wasn't secure enough to support the added weight. He found himself on his back, stray blonde strands on his face, a warm pressure bearing on his chest as he once more stared at the ceiling.

An inarticulate moan sounded from the vicinity of his neck and shoulder, close to his ear. Tara squirmed slightly, before finding a comfortable position, still half-sprawled on Raven. She mumbled something indistinct about… fishnet shirts?– snuggling her head deeper against Raven's neck. Well, at least her neck was no longer crooked.

Raven lay still, unsure, before attempting to shake her shoulder again. "Tara, it's time to wake up," he said, just as softly as before, nudging her as strongly as he dared.

He knew the exact moment she became fully awake. Tara slowly was slowly rousing, trying to move to a comfortable position when her whole body suddenly stiffened, becoming very still. Slowly, she raised her face, her blue eyes very wide behind her hair.

"Good morning, Tara," Raven greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, um, yeah," Tara mumbled, looking uncomfortable as she went slightly red.

They stayed like that, staring at each other, unsure whether to move. Finally, Tara said, "So, um, how are you feeling?"

Raven considered. "I am mostly recovered from my experience last night, although it would be best if I have Keeper perform a more thorough analysis of my condition."

A stomach suddenly grumbled.

"Also," Raven added, face not altering a hair at Tara's suddenly amused look, "I'm hungry."

"Well, that makes two of us," Tara laughed, finally managing to push herself up and off Raven. "Breakfast should be ready now. I hope Robin cooked. No offense to my boy Beast Boy, but all his fake-meat stuff stinks."

"It _is_ rather unpalatable," Raven agreed, smoothly sliding off the bed.and looking around searchingly. "Where's my cloak?"

"Keeper hung it in the closet," Tara said, rolling her neck as she tried to relieve the crick in it. The girl almost bit her tongue to keep herself from asking Raven about his fishnet shirt.

Tara watched as Raven clasped on the cloak. A part of her idly thought how more complete he looked, wearing the cloak, even if the hood was pulled back. Except for that time at the beach, she'd always seen him wearing the thing.

Her musings were interrupted as Raven glided– no other word for it– towards her. "Shall we?" he said, gesturing towards the door.

As the door slid open, Raven suddenly said, "Did you stay here all night?"

Tara blushed, not trusting herself to speak as she nodded.

Raven smiled. "Thank you," he said as the door slid shut behind them.

In the empty room, the music box kept playing.

----------------------------------------

Tara didn't know what she was expecting when they walked into the living area, but it certainly wasn't what she saw.

"Set-chan! Set-chan! I love you, Set-chan!"

"– Ultimate Destructive Magic…Meteor!!"

"Get this nut off of me!"

"– I _will_ take your clothes off!"

"– shining brilliance of youth!"

"– I cared about plants, what did I do to deserve this–?"

"Pass the bacon, please."

Tara stood at the door, her mouth slack as she stared at the tableau before her. Harley was standing on her stool, gesturing in the air and wearing a strangely familiar black leather coat and pants. Light was posing, making a thumbs up gesture, his teeth sparkling brightly. Isley was slouched over the table, head in her hands. Zatanna was on her feet, one arm gesturing widely, the other holding her wand and pointing it at an unfamiliar girl with long dark hair who was glomped on to Hawkgirl's waist. Said Thanagarian was trying to pry her off, looking somewhere between exasperated, amused and pissed. In the background, Cyborg was laughing his head off, Beast Boy and Starfire were standing to either side and behind Harley, Jason Blood was commenting on Light's pose, and Fate was passing the bacon to Robin.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!" Tara cried, causing everyone to freeze.

"Um…" Harley said.

"Harley is pretending to be Sephiroth," Robin said calmly as he continued eating. "Starfire and Beast Boy think it's actually a scene from Advent Children. Doctor Light is apparently a Maito Gai fan, which explains how he talks. Ivy's having a breakdown, while Keeper is apparently role-playing as someone named Konoka Konoe, who is supposedly the romantic interest of Setsuna Sakurazaki, who Hawkgirl is dressed as. Zatanna is threatening to take Keeper's clothes off, since it was originally suggested that _she_ be Konoka, because it's apparently a running gag that Konoka ends up naked. Cyborg's finding all this funny, and I'm eating bacon. Did I miss anything?"

Tara blinked. "Keeper's _what?_"

The girl glomping Hawkgirl raised her hand. "Right here."

Tara stared.

"Yeah," Robin said, buttering a waffle. "Surprising, isn't it?"

Girl-Keeper grinned, then caught sight of Tara's companion. "Rae-kun!" she squealed– squealed?– as she let go of Hawkgirl and dashed towards the boy. "How are you feeling?" she said, looking at him concernedly.

"I'm fine," Raven said, "although you should check to make sure."

Girl-Keeper nodded, placing a hand on his forehead and closing her eyes in concentration. "Hmm," she hummed, tilting her head from side to side as if looking at something. "You seem fine to me," she said, taking of her hand. "I've got water for your tea. A little food is all you need. Well, that and a bigger wardrobe, but we'll deal with that some other time."

Raven nodded a silent thanks, gliding– how the heck does he do that?– towards the kettle on the stove. Girl-Keeper turned to grin Tara.

"Bacon and waffles?" she chirped.

Tara twitched. It was _too early_ for this!

----------------------------------------

Shayera was torn between rushing through her breakfast and taking her time. Eating in the Watchtower was different from eating with the Titans. There, they ate in what was obviously a cafeteria, in little groups or alone depending on what you felt. It had a regimented feel to it somehow.

Here in Titans' Tower, a meal was obviously a group– no, a _family_– affair. The food was obviously cooked, unlike in the Watchtower, which might be recycled waste for all anyone knew. Everyone ate together, everyone made small talk, and everyone was relaxed. There was none of the underlying tension, the feeling of waiting to be call to an emergency. There was no _rush._

Shayera also doubted she'd see someone role-playing as Sephiroth, a guy channeling the spirit of Maito Gai, and a cosplaying sexchanger pretending to be an Akamatsu character all in one meal at the Watchtower. She just wished _she_ hadn't had to be involved in the latter.

Everyone seemed to finish their meal with trepidation. Granted, Keeper– who was still a Konoe Konoka look-alike– and Harley– who was still wearing the Sephiroth leathers Keeper'd made for her– chattered all through the meal, but beneath that, the tension was like an ooze, nearly solid.

When the last of the plates had been cleared off the table, everyone just sort of sat back and looked at each other expectantly.

"So," Beast Boy said a little too loudly. "What now?"

"We find Axilano and kill him," Keeper said instantly, materializing a plate of cookies and nibbling on one. When people looked at her disapprovingly for using the 'K' word, she just raised an eyebrow at them. "Well, what do you suggest? An exorcism?"

No one else took a cookie.

Shayera pursed her lips, turning to Blood. "What do you think?"

"One way or another, Axilano must be dealt with," was his reply. "Whether it will be possible to kill him is another matter."

"Oh, I'll find a way," Keeper said. "I promised, after all."

"And just how are you planning to _find_ him?" Zatanna asked. "Millennium Ring?"

A few eyebrows were raised.

"Not quite, Dark Magician Girl," Keeper said dryly. "But I do have something in mind…"

----------------------------------------

"Go boy, track the demon. That's a good boy. Go on boy, track. Track," Keeper said as she held an invisible dog leash and shook it around the circle of holly that had been grown the day before.

"I thought I left this kind of stuff when I left Gotham," Robin muttered, looking very un-amused.

"You too?" said Ivy.

"Ooh, what a cute doggie!" Harley said, flicking the tail of her coat and crouching down next to the invisible 'dog'. "What's his name?"

"His name if Fluffy and he's a three-headed Dobberman," Keeper said.

Everyone sweatdropped as they watched the two nutcases play with their 'dog'.

"Are all your friends like this?" Beast Boy asked Raven.

"I'm fairly certain only Keeper and Miss Quinn show signs of mental disturbance," Raven said, even though he looked pretty bemused himself. "But they're harmless as long as you don't get them angry at you."

"Oh, is that what I was doing wrong?" Robin muttered sarcastically as he remembered all the sucker-punch guns and giant mallets and smiley bombs… Zatanna elbowed him in the ribs.

"Are we actually accomplishing something here?" Shayera asked, looking like she was considering using her now-active mace on someone– preferably a still sex-changed cosplayer. Although police lines still encircled the site of yesterday's battle against Axilano, a small crowd of the curious were pressing their luck and ogling from a distance. Some were taking pictures. Shayera squashed the horror that came with the realization that her new 'outfit' would be on the news by that afternoon, if it hadn't made it already. She hadn't watched the news last night, after all…

Keeper sighed. "Fine," she said, letting go of the leash and walking towards the circle of trees, one hand waving as if feeling for something, eyes half-lidded. Harley remained kneeling and was now…

"Um, you don't suppose there really _is_ an invisible dog there, do you?" Ivy suddenly said as they watched the leash remain floating and _something_ tickling Harley's face and leaving a liquid that was suspiciously like saliva on it.

Cyborg, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on Doctor Light, who was standing meekly close to Raven– in his suit. Raven had argued for his inclusion on this little endeavor, since his abilities might be useful, and the others had reluctantly agreed– provided Cyborg install a remote shut-off on the suit to keep him in check, which he had. It wasn't like they had a choice. Leaving him in the Tower would mean they had to leave someone with him, and there had been something about the terms of the parole…

Not that it looked like they would need it, however. After breakfast and suiting up, Light had been almost silent, his little oratory at the table a spur of the moment thing inspired by the insanity around them… and there had been a lot of _that _going around.

"Found it!" Keeper announced, and everyone seemed to perk up at those words. She was standing close to the center of the trees, a grimly triumphant smile on her face.

"Found what?" Blood asked as they all walked closer, the leash crumbling to nothing (Harley mourned for 0.34555 seconds, them went to join them). They stayed back so as not to crowd her and possibly whatever it was.

"Axilano's trace," Keeper said, waving her hand a couple more times before nodding in satisfaction. Kneeling down, she placed both hands on the ground, head still tilted to one side, still listening to a silent sound. "I'm not sure if this will work– I mean, what's the opposite of being able to listen to the Earth?– but it's worth a shot."

"Opposite?" Starfire asked the obvious question.

"It's kind of hard to explain," Keeper said. "Back home, I have a counter part, an opposite number named Cornelia. She has the power of Earth, and among other things is able to listen to the Earth. That 'listening' usually gives her info. My powers are supposed to be the opposite of her's, so I suppose the Earth should… listen to me?"

"Glad my powers don't include earth listening," Tara said. "Otherwise all I'd be hearing would be complaints."

"Very true," Ivy said, nodding sagely.

"Is this the first time you've done this?" Fate said, intrigued.

"Technically," Keeper said, narrowing her eyes. "I think it might be related to my ability to talk to inanimate objects."

"Hello? Wasting time? Demon on the loose?" Robin prompted them. He got some displeased looks.

Keeper took a deep breath and said, quite clearly, "Earth, can you lead me to the source of all this evil magic I'm feeling under me?"

There was a mild tremble, and suddenly a small patch of ground began to sink slightly in an obvious trail.

Keeper grinned up at everyone, stood, dusted off her knees, than paused. "Thank you," she told the ground.

There was another mild tremble in reply.

"Come on," Keeper said, pointing towards the sinkage and quickly trotting towards it. "We've got a trail!"

They let Keeper run on ahead following the trail of sinking earth as Robin and Shayera deployed their forces. All those who could get in the air did so, to give them advance warning on anything that might be ahead. Another group composed of Raven, Terra, Blood, and, strangely, Harley caught up with Keeper and stuck with him, while the rest slinked some distance behind to keep them covered.

"How can he even tell if it's sinking?" Ivy said as the others trailed behind in the T-car.

They all watched as, a little ahead of Keeper, a tree sunk down a few inches.

"Well, at least he can tell," Zatanna said.

"We're not likely to lose the trail," Cyborg said, pointing at one of the car's monitors. "By sensors are picking up the sinkage, so we can still follow it if Keeper can't."

"I hate magic," Robin groused as he fingered his utility belt. This immediately earned him a smack upside the head courtesy of Zatanna. "OW!"

"You Bat-guys really need to learn not to say that when there are magicians in the vicinity," Zatanna said, smiling sweetly in the scariest way possible. Light tried to inch farther without crawling onto Ivy's lap.

----------------------------------------

Eventually, the trail ended in front of a cute little house in the suburbs that looked like something out of 'Malcolm in the Middle'– which meant, as Keeper pointed out, that it was potentially a deathtrap.

"That's stupid," Robin said as he and the others stepped out of the car to join the tracking group. "Why would it be a deathtrap?"

"Because it doesn't _look_ like a deathtrap," Keeper said, her borrowed face smiling serenely and looking strangely convincing. "Honestly, you really need to watch more TV. Preferably anime."

"I watch TV," Robin defended himself.

"The news doesn't count."

"You sure this is the right place?" Tara asked as she fingered her goggles. Next to her, Harley was patting the satchel at her side that was her 'bag of tricks'.

"Yes," Raven said abruptly, the first thing he'd said since they'd started following the trail. "I can _feel_ him…"

"So can I," Zatanna said, pursing her lips and gripping her wand, backwards-speak ready to fly out of her mouth. "Barley, but I can feel _something_ unpleasant."

Jason frowned, muttering his incantation, and in a flash of fire, Etrigan stood in his place. Boldly, he started to walk towards the door.

"Wait," Robin said, looking up into the sky were Fate, Shayera, Beast Boy and Starfire were still hovering. "Maybe we should–"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as the door suddenly burst off it's hinges in a blast of dark magic and flames. Everyone stepped back, Raven and Keeper bringing up shields of their own brand of darkness to protect against any flying debris.

"Well, well," Axilano said as he stood at what was left of the door, incongruously holding an apple in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it into his mouth, crushing it with one enormous bite. Behind him, screams and cries could be heard. "The little demon-child and his friends have come to play."

Keeper gave him a one-fingered salute, followed by other gestures that were a bit unrecognizable but were obviously offensive, along with a long and steady stream of words in various languages that had Zatanna and Etrigan staring at him.

"What was that?" Robin asked after Keeper finished with a recognizable snipping gesture that had the guys wincing.

"Swearing," Etrigan said, sounding somewhere between admiring and… disturbed? "Although it would be more accurate to call it cursing in the literal sense. Some of that hasn't been heard in thousands of years."

"Mesopotamian," Zatanna muttered, "Egyptian, Mandarin… I think I'm scarred for life."

"I'm eclectic," Keeper said dryly.

Even Axilano seemed a bit disturbed by what was said (he'd crossed his legs at the snipping gesture). "Such a foul mouth, child," he said. "Don't you know where children who speak like that are destined to go?"

"Jerry Springer," Keeper said. "Can we get to the part were you die already?"

Surprisingly, Axilano laughed. "Such spirit. I will enjoy feasting on it."

That was all he got before everything went to wrong…

----------------------------------------

From above, Shayera very clearly saw the door exploding. Beast Boy and Starfire had both cried out in surprise, and it had a been all she and Fate could do to keep them from charging down. She hefted her mace, watching as Axilano appeared and the exchange that followed. She wasn't sure what had been said, but she could guess from the way Fate kept wincing and how he crossed his legs in the end.

Irritably, she tugged her skirt down with one hand, only to have it go flying off again. Seriously, how did Supergirl handle this? A skirt while flying, and a mini at that… heck, Shayera was wearing bike shorts underneath and she still felt comfortable. Not for the first time, she wondered if Clark knew everything there really was to know about his cousin. Seriously, a short skirt like that, what kind of coverage…

Her mental diatribe on the impracticality of skirts on a flyer and Supergirl's possible exhibitionist tendencies were cut off as what looked like red-veined black flames suddenly burst into being down on the ground all over the street and in the air.

"That is not good, is it?" Starfire said, looking at the flames nervously as some burst around and above them.

"No, it is not," Fate said, his hands charging up with magic.

The flames dissipated, revealing lithe, winged demonic forms with glowing red eyes, rows on rows of teeth to make a shark jealous, and claws upon claws on arms at least ten feet long. Shayera looked at them, then at the mace in her hands. The suddenly _little_ mace in her hands. "Oh, (bleep)."

Beast Boy took one look at them, squawked, and promptly changed from a condor to a chicken.

----------------------------------------

"This is just not my week," Robin muttered as he back-flipped over a set of claws intent on gutting him, flicking a freeze disk in mid flight and breaking the suddenly flash-frozen limb with is staff as he descended, only to dodge back as another beast, a bigger, non-winged variant of the ones currently giving their air support trouble smashed at the spot where he'd been standing, creating an indentation that Robin could have been buried in.

Ivy had run away screaming at the sight of the things (no one had ever said she was brave or a hero, and _certainly_ not the fighting type, more of a minion-user), diving under the car and staying there. Cyborg was standing his ground near the curb, although whether for Ivy's sake or the car itself was debatable. Surprisingly, Light's suit weaponry was doing a good job of helping him fight the demons, his laser ribbons, photon bombs and energy shields now a help rather than a hindrance, and for the first time since last night, Robin was glad Raven had argued in including him.

The aforementioned boy was standing with Harley and Terra, his telekinetic constructs suddenly razor-sharp and undoubtedly lethal, no longer content to shield and shove as they tore into the demons with ease, hands dancing every which way, his cloak swirling around him as he directed his power, the seemingly insignificant stick of his wand in his hand blasting out red, green and blue light at his opponents. Next to him, Terra was apparently taking tricks from his book as small, pointed rocks flew in all directions, swirling in a protective sphere around the three as minor tremors broke in all directions to keep the demons off-balance, and make them easier pickings. Harley was the hardest pressed of the lot, her rapidly depleting bag of tricks forcing her to be insanely imaginative in ways that Robin hadn't been able to admire back when it had been directed at him. Now, her samples of Joker Venom/Smile-X poison gas were being used as incendiary grenades, detonated by either one of her Smiley Bombs or a jet of red light from Raven. Her Sucker Punch gun had already been torn from her hands (to loud cries of "MEANIE!"), and grass lay smoking from her acid flowers.

Etrigan was trying to charge at Axilano, but was hampered by the hordes of minor demons between the two of them. The sweet little neighborhood had quickly degenerated into something out of Mordor as fire, either from flower acid, Smiley Bombs, spells or hellfire breath lit anything they touched. Fortunately, because of the supervillains, monsters, occasional alien and an almost-anatomically-correct Cardiac attacking children, people knew better than to watch the fight and had run as fast as their little legs and cars could carry them. Some of the demons had charged after them, but someone– Robin wasn't sure if it was Zatanna, Fate or that Keeper guy… girl… whatever– had erected an energy barrier that had kept them from doing so, but had also unfortunately trapped them in with the demons.

Up above, gold and green bursts as well as battle cries and screams told him that Fate, Starfire and Shayera were still holding their own. Beast Boy had dropped down to ground level, as he really didn't have any forms suited to aerial combat. Even so, he was rapidly accumulating a large number of cuts and burns as the demons tore at him. Still he fought on, shifting from rhinoceros to T-rex to fly, anything to do damage and still get out alive. Fortunately, Zatanna backed him up, her nearly bare legs almost dancing as her mouth threw out a flurry of backwards words that switched between transmogrifying, capturing, crushing, containing and otherwise doing nasty things to demons and healing Beast Boy (Robin had finally figured out what "Agaruc", "Ajaruc", "Eruc Lluf", "Lepsog Taerg", "Efil Fo Eslup", "Dniw Etihw", and "Liuqnart Raelc" meant and resolved to find a way to cut off Zatanna's Final Fantasy privileges).

Only Keeper fought alone, although from the little Robin saw of him– her? ARGH! (unknown to Robin, this was not the first time Keeper has instilled this kind of reaction)– Keeper didn't need any help, doing very well by herself. She kept flickering around the battle field, forearms covered in long blades of ice that tore lines of acrid black blood even as magic accompanied by cries of "Ice Crystal Daggers!", "Cold Bolt!", "Frozen World!", "Blizzaja", and, for some reason, "BRAIN FREEZE!" echoed through the air, leaving ice-covered, frost-ridden, icicle speared, crystal stabbed, and freeze-broken demons all over the place and finally giving Robin of glimpsed of the carnage that must have happened in Titans' Tower the night before. The sex-changing shape-shifter kept trying to get close to Axilano, her teleporting making it easier for her than Etrigan, but she constantly had to teleport back out at the shear concentration of enemies around Axilano, not to mention Axilano himself. The little forays hadn't really hurt her, but her hair was torn unevenly (and rather painfully), since her chosen weapons wouldn't let her use her arms to ward off follicle attacks.

Robin's split-second combat assessment was interrupted as the demon he was fighting chose that moment to cause it's already ridiculously long arms to extend even farther in Robin's direction, the flesh on the bristling claws pulling back and showing more claw as it transformed into a sort of fleshy spear. Instinct caused Robin to dodge even as he fired off yet another freeze disk at yet another demon. Unfortunately, the spear was not to be deterred, winding sideways like a viper to aim for Robin's heart as he landed in a perfect crouch.

CLANG!

Robin's instinctive step back was a second too late, but no matter, as Keeper blocked the extended arm with her crossed, ice-covered arms. One of the arms lashed out, barely diverting the demon's other arm.

"Frost Diver!" Keeper cried, and icicles began shooting up out of the ground towards the demon, encasing it in a pillar of ice. One of the icicle arms crackled with lightning as she extended it forward. "Lightning Bolt!"

The formed ice exploded in frozen shrapnel, breaking the demon to pieces and bombarding his companions with shards as Raven and Zatanna shielded their companions, Robin protected by the shield Keeper had thrown up at the last moment.

Keeper turned to look at him after a burst of air blasted the nearest demons back several feet. "You okay?"

Robin opened his mouth– what for, he wasn't sure, since he _certainly_ had no intention of saying 'thank you'– then quickly changed what he was going to say as a shadow fell over them. "Look out!" he cried, pushing Keeper one way as he dove to the side.

Hawkgirl crashed into the spot they were standing, barely cushioned by the hastily conjured cushion of black energy Keeper made, her wings bloody, feathers pointing the wrong way, and numerous cuts on her arms and legs. The aerial demon was barely a moment behind, it's claws poised to rend. Robin was instantly in the air, staff poised to block the claws. He was barely successful, the demon's momentum combined with it's claws going through the staff like it was wood and nearly gutting Robin as he landed on his back next to the fallen Leaguer, inches from a damaged wing. Robin's hand dropped to his belt, reaching for another weapon, when a blast of darkness caught the demon from the side, tearing a huge chunk from it even as it was thrown away.

Keeper instantly slashed his outstretched hand to the side, the gesture knocking back a spear-arm even as another wave of energy burst out to push back so they wouldn't be overwhelmed. "How is she?" Keeper demanded, muttering an invective under her breath as, with a strange flickering-wave effect, she turned back into a he.

Robin tossed the pieces of his broken staff to the side as he quickly examined Hawkgirl. Her limbs were quickly covering in blood, and her wings twitched every so often. A row of lines was gushing at her back as she groaned weakly. The grip on her mace never wavered.

"Not good," was his technical reply.

Another waving arm gesture, and one of the icicle arms fell apart, it's shards flying at the nearest enemies and impaling them in the eye. A snap, and the broken pieces of Robin's staff flew to Keeper's hand, fusing as they did. Silvery dust suddenly swirled around the staff, a wicked, slightly curved heavy blade and guard forming at one end to make a vicious halberd. "Here," Keeper said. "Fifteen seconds, that's all I need."

Robin grabbed the reconstructed and upgraded weapon, making a wide, arching slash as the halberd began to spin in a completely different way, proving that Batman's kids really _did_ learn everything. As Robin single-handedly held the line, Keeper got rid of his other icicle the same way, kneeling next to Hawkgirl, his hands glowing as he began waving over her arms, back and wings…

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Raven tried to keep his mind from falling into a blur as he kept up the high volume of magic, barely keeping his telekinesis and wand magic from getting mixed up. Well, it wasn't really telekinesis, but that was it's most basic incarnation. The simple incendiary, stunning, disarming and knock-back spells were doing a fairly good job augmenting his power's attack and defense. Next to him, Tara was beginning to tire, more used to a few big rocks than so many smaller ones, but she was still going strong. Harley was his real worry. She'd nearly depleted her supplies, with only her razor-sharp playing cards and her over-sized wooden mallet. The cards were flying with pin-point precision, however, aiming for eyes to disable so that Raven and Tara could finish them off.

Raven's eyes tracked Hawkgirl as she fell, seeing that she'd land near Keeper, so he didn't need to worry about her. Doctor Fate and Starfire were still flying, their lack of wings making them more maneuverable as they wove together in the air, their various blasts lighting the sky above.

Hearing a cross between a strangled cry of frustration and a whine, Raven risked a glance towards Harley. She'd apparently thrown her last card– the Joker, of course– without knowing it, and was down to her mallet, which was steadily becoming woodchips.

That was not good.

A white ribbon suddenly lashed out from the side, tearing into forms as efficiently as it had metal bars the night before, Light appearing in a burst of brilliance, his energy shields guarding his back as he took Harley's place in the line, allowing her to fall back to the center.

"Thank you, Doctor Light," Raven said politely, not slowing down his pace.

"Great save doc!" Tara said, before turning to Raven. "Why couldn't you have come to San Francisco sooner? It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"And me a lot of humiliation," Light muttered, then blushed as Harley gave him a quick peck on the cheek for relieving her.

Tara looked at them and for some reason shuddered…

A second look over at Robin showed that things weren't as good as he'd thought. Robin, despite his deadlier weapon and his own extensive range of fighting skills, was slowly being overrun as he tried to defend both Keeper and Hawkgirl.

"Robin needs help," Raven pointed out, using his wand to blast fire while his telekinesis tore at flesh.

Tara frowned, before stepping back slightly. Raven and Light immediately rearranged themselves to cover her as she concentrated. Raven felt the ground beneath his feet lift, and he immediately cast a shield around them, Light doing the same with his energy sphere as Tara used her geo-kinesis to lift them towards Robin. Inside, Raven and Light took a moment to catch their breaths.

The moment didn't last long though, as they almost immediately had to take the offensive, firing down at the demons from the relative safety of their platform. The safety didn't last long either before they attracted the attention of the aerial demons. The four of them abandoned their position, still covering Robin, Hawkgirl and Keeper. Light managed to land safely, while Tara tore a smaller chunk of earth to float on, keeping the bigger one up to cover them from above. Raven grabbed Harley and carefully carried her to the ground, his wand arm slightly restricted.

Placing Harley in the center with Hawkgirl and hoping she retained the presence of mind and sufficient recall of anything useful she might have learned at medical school to help, Raven joined the formation and together, the four of them were able to maintain the line and keep the demons at bay.

Behind them, they heard someone coming to…

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Shayera woke up to see an annoying face above her.

"Oh, it's you," she said, before realizing that, despite the searing pain from before, her wings were perfectly fine, and her arms no longer bled and burned.

"Oh, Set-chan, you're all right!" he gushed shamelessly, somehow managing to make flower petals stream around him.

She growled. "Cut it with the 'Set-chan' garbage already! It's not funny anymore!"

He raised an eyebrow, looking down. She followed his gaze towards her mace, which he was just taking by the head. There was a sudden ripple and suddenly the haft became freezing cold. Startled, Shayera instinctively let go, not wanting to be frozen to her weapon. The ripple quickly continued, and all of a sudden, the head of the mace suddenly seemed to dissolve, extending into a long, thin form…

She blinked as he handed her the reformed weapon. What had once been a mace was now a sword with and seven-foot blade.

"It might not be funny," he said as he handed it to her, "But it's certainly appropriate."

"Ooh, can I have one too?" Harley said, jumping up and down and pointing to herself.

Shayera ignored them as she hefted the _nodachi_– since that was exactly what it was, she reflected dryly. A snap of the switch had energy humming over the length of the blade. Nice.

A sudden squeal drew her to where the boy was presenting Harley with what looked like a giant metal mallet with a eight-foot haft. "I dub thee, Mallet-mune," he said as he handed to Harley, who grabbed it enthusiastically and swung it over Terra's head– she was shortest, after all– to smack the nearest demon into the ground.

"COOL!" Harley yelled.

"**_WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE?_**" Robin yelled as he smacked a target with the butt of his halberd right into the path of Light energy ribbon. "**_QUIT FOOLING AORUND!_**"

"Sorry," Keeper and Harley chorused. The two exchanged grins before literally leaping into the fray, mallet held high and icicles blasting.

Shayera quickly leveled herself back on her feet, before pausing for a moment, touching her hair. That little brat redid her hair! Tugging at all the hair on one side of her head, she supposed it was as logical a hairstyle as any. Looking at her new blade– he'd even engraved _Yuunagi_ on the side, for crying out loud!– Shayera finally let herself grin, the tension inside finally popping as she dove in as well with a cry of "_Hyakuretsu Okazani!_".

If she was going to die in a nearly embarrassing cosplay outfit, then she was going to have FUN, darn it!

Besides, how many Setsuna cosplayers can say they've actually fought demons with _Yuunagi_?

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: I'm trying to draw Shayera and Zatanna in Mahora uniforms, but my muse simply refuses to cooperate. Setsuna-ized Shayera's lineart is up and ready (check my Deviant Art account at shadow-crystal-mage DOT deviantart DOT com), I just need to color it, but for some reason, I can't be inspired to draw a Konoka-nized Zatanna. Any takers?

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	13. Third Wave…

A/N: Okay, despite my intentions, the last chap turned into a Keeper chap. Never again! He now only appears as much as the others.

Warning! Lots of jokes about underwear!

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 13: Third Wave…

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

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Raven had a problem with emotions.

This, of course, was putting it very mildly. He'd _wanted_ to be emotionally repressed since he was four, and had only recently learned how to undo it. Expressing his emotions _safely_ had been relearned in a relatively short period of time- it had all been a matter of control and awareness. _Identifying_ emotions- in himself and others- was something he still needed to work on. Why else would he completely miss all that blushing Tara did?

He was also a bit simplistic about the emotions he _did_ have. He felt- and assumed others did as well- emotions one at a time. This made it difficult for him to empathize with people. Add in his naivette and it was lucky he had managed to avoid being tricked.

That people knew of, anyway.

Ever since Keeper had brought up killing Axilano at breakfast, Raven had become... unsure... about how he felt. He couldn't tell if he was angry, afraid, offended... he didn't know. What did one feel after being... violated?

He'd felt Axilano when Keeper had taken them close enough. Before he could even think of what to do, to feel, they'd been attacked and forced to fight. It had become easier once they had regrouped with Robin, easier still when Zatanna and Beast Boy had joined them, especially now that Hawkgirl and Harley had been rearmed. Keeper and the former had taken to the air, rejoining with Doctor Fate and Starfire, who had almost been overwhelmed. After they'd joined Cyborg (they'd left Etrigan to his own devices) Raven had taken to the air as well, his magic free to reach in all directions.

With effort, they all eventually managed to fight off the hoards. After managing to kill or at least ground all the aerial demons, it had been child's play to wipe out those on the ground. However, in that time...

"WHERE IS HE?" Etrigan and Keeper both screamed.

"Axilano seems to have escaped in the confusion," Raven observed, winding his way carefully between rapidly disappearing corpses as he slipped his wand back into his pocket.

He believed that the expression they directed at him was called 'withering'.

"We've got to track him down again," Robin said, collapsing his new halberd and looking nervously at the blade, which now resembled a wide short sword. Wordlessly, Keeper handed him a sheathe.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Fate said, looking up at the sky.

Frowning, everyone looked up.

In the stunned silence that followed, Harley asked the obvious question.

"Why's it getting dark? It's not even lunch yet!"

"How the heck is he doing that?" Keeper muttered, sounding impressed despite himself.

It didn't take long for them to find the computer in one of the upstairs bedrooms, still on a certain spell from a certain book.

"Don't you Americans have measures for things like this?" Keeper asked Zatanna and Fate (Etrigan was technically British) in astonishment. Thankfully, the other Titans were downstairs trying to pull Ivy out from under the car or making calls. "I mean, the British Ministry of Magic might be corrupt enough to make Gotham and Bludhaven look good, but they at least keep the Statute of Secrecy seriously! I mean really, whose bright idea was it to scan a book of spells even a Muggle can do and post it on the internet?"

"Uh, oops?" Zatanna said.

"And people worry about under-aged magic," Keeper muttered.

Etrigan, meanwhile was paging through the scanned book. "Axilano read this too," Etrigan said, looking strangely at home surfing the web while Raven looked over his shoulder curiously. "I believe I know how he is doing this."

Raven saw what he was looking at and caught his breath. "The Mark of Scath," Raven breathed, trembling as memories from his youth he'd rather not remember returned to him.

"That's bad," Zatanna said.

"How does it work?" Keeper asked, looking like he wanted to read over Etrigan's shoulder too and restraining himself.

"Axilano and I were there when Merlin banished Scath," Etrigan said. "He knows where Scath was sent. He's using the break in reality that leads to his prison to create a pathway through which Scath may return to the world."

"Will that even work?" Zatanna asked, also scrutinizing the screen.

"No," Etrigan said. "At best only a shadow of Scath will touch the world. But even then, it will be hell on earth."

"And the terror of Trigon begins," Keeper muttered, drawing looks from Raven and Etrigan. He smiled thinly. "Don't mind me, I'm just babbling."

"So we have to stop Axilano before he completes his attempt," Fate said. "And to do that, we must find him again."

As one, everyone looked at Keeper.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling thinly. "I'll find him."

It wasn't just that simple, however.

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Women and children screamed. People ran in waves, leaving cars and debris in their wake. Police tried to make their stands, but could only fall back, they're weaponry no match against superior numbers.

Demons had come to San Francisco.

"Where's a nun with a gun when you need one?" Cyborg muttered, unleashing the T-car's missiles into an oncoming wave of demons as he shot them with his sonic cannon from the car window. He, Starfire, Doctor Light and Terra were holding their position trying to buy people time to escape while Beast Boy and Ivy directed traffic (Raven had asked her nicely).

In another part of town, Shayera, Robin and Harley were putting their new weapons to good use as they covered a group of police officers to allow them a chance to escape.

"Shayera! How long 'til the League gets here?" Robin asked, warding off several spear arms as he threw freeze disks.

"They'll be here!" Shayera said, the long crackling blade of her new weapon cutting a swathe in front of her. She had to admit, it was more effective in dispatching these things than her mace was.

"WHEE!" Harley cried, skipping, hopping and spinning in that way that used to drive Robin nuts whenever he tried to hit her, but was now holding her in good stead as she swung Mallet-mune with wild abandon. "THIS IS FUN!"

A chilling thought suddenly coursed through Robin as he thought of something. "Um, Batman's not likely to be joining us, is he?" he asked nervously.

"Gee, an invasion whose ground zero is the city that one of his kids protects," Shayera sound faux-thoughtfully. "What are the chances of the over-protective paranoid– not that he'll admit it– not coming to boss everyone around and make them do it right?"

Robin gulped and prayed that the demons got him before Batman did. He did _not_ want to have to explain himself…

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Up in space, the Justice League were mobilizing. While Batman and Superman were muttering their usual diatribes ("I hate magic,") J'onn was seeing to it that everyone who could help was sent to San Francisco. Everyone was told what to expect– demons, possible end of the world, really scary stuff. Since the magic was scrambling the transporter frequencies, people had to be sent down by Javelin. That is, until Batman finally pointed out the obvious.

"Teleport those who could fly and move fast as close as possible and have them bring everyone else there," the Dark Knight said.

Everyone was still kicking themselves over not realizing that sooner (J'onn was doing it literally).

In the meantime, the local magic population was readying itself. While wizards as a whole were not really anything more than normal people with magic, an exceptional few will rise above normal human limitations and distinguish themselves in times of crisis. Here and there, a wizard managed to destroy a demon from the shadows using spells that they, quite frankly, had to learn after San Francisco started having incidents like this. They were discreet, knowing the value of secrecy, but not a few witches wished that they could move into the open like their idols Zatanna and Fate, kicking ass in public without people burning them at the stake or some such nonsense.

Although some drew the line at the fishnets and tights. Even wizards knew _that_ looked silly.

Also, by a strange quirk of fate, a famous wizard who had come to California to see some old World War II buddies just happened to be sunning himself at a beach close to the city, stretched out on a blanket (thankfully not wearing a speedo but rather a purple and violet striped swimsuit that hadn't been popular since Dick Van Dyke), rubbing suntan lotion on his long crooked nose.

"Oh dear," Professor Dumbledore said, noticing the skies darkening above the city as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "This looks like a job for Superman."

Since Superman was likely already on his way, the professor headed for the nearest changing area, coming out wearing a reasonably Muggle outfit (a tweed suit of the likes of Mr. Bean). Sure, he was cutting his vacation a little short, but really, after years of dealing with the Weasleys (Fred and George were _not_ the only pranksters that family's produced) and the sublimated frustration at not being able to find Harry Potter, Dumbledore was looking for an excuse to relieve stress.

Statute of Secrecy? This was America! You can fly around in your underwear and no one would bother you. Besides, he was an honorary member of the Justice League, and had the little card to prove it (Flash had been giving them out at the post-Thanagarian Invasion Party)!

Plus he'd been meaning to interview that Raven child for the paper he was writing on Meta-Magi…

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Meanwhile, back with the magic-users…

After Keeper managed to talk the server that contained the scans of the book to delete it and all similar scans ("Honestly, whose bright idea was that?" he continued ranting) Etrigan, Fate, Raven and he were able to follow the much fresher trail Axilano was leaving behind. Zatanna had fallen back to try and contact any witches and wizards she knew in the area and organize them into some kind of movement. Raven wished her luck.

Their movement was slightly slowed by the fact that Axilano had summoned more demons, which they all had to cut through. According to Fate, Axilano was using the same break in reality from his imprisoning to reach into some of the closer planes and draw support.

"And just how exactly is he drawing the power to do that?" Keeper demanded, as he sent a barrage of lightning at the hoard before him.

"He is draining his host," Etrigan answered, breaking an arm even as he let loose his breath.

Raven paused in what he was doing, only to recover in time to keep himself from being gored. "His host?" he repeated.

Etrigan grinned viciously. "Who do you think freed him?"

Raven's eye widened as he remembered the boy he had seen, the trapped one who had brought Axilano into the world once more. "Won't that kill his host?"

"Yes."

Raven narrowed his blazing white eyes, and suddenly a gigantic black form stood over him. It opened it's wings, drawing back it dark head and letting out a loud cry, before diving forward in a wave of power and slamming into all that stood before them. The demons in front of them were torn to shreds in moments as the form continued to rip forward.

Raven's eyes blazed purest white a little longer, before his knees suddenly collapsed, almost sending him to the ground panting if Keeper hadn't caught him.

"Okay, what was that?" his brother asked, frowning at the devastation that had been wrought for a moment, before quickly levitating Raven and dragging him forward, Fate and Etrigan close by.

"Focused use of my emotions," was Raven's dry– he'd been working on that– reply. He was rewarded by Keeper giving him a shake.

"Well, don't kill yourself over it," was the muttered response as they made use of the cleared path. Fate and Keeper sniped at any demons that appeared, the latter doing most of the work as the former conserved his strength, while Etrigan dragged Raven as he recovered.

Raven pushed himself to his feet, trying to draw on his emotions to give him strength. What he'd done had strained his still recovering abilities, leaving him tired and wishing for rest. He pulled his wand out of his pocket as he stumbled along, resigning himself to fighting with simple spells for the moment.

The trail they were following was leading into less populated portions of the city, with obviously lower income. In the distance, they could hear faint gunfire, possibly of residents and gangs trying to defend themselves. Cries of the injured and dying interspersed with the shots, and Raven felt his instincts protesting as they had when he knew the boy Axilano had bound himself to might die. Where were the Titans? Where was the Justice League? Why was no one helping those here?

Why weren't _they_– why wasn't _he_– helping those here?

It was hard to regain his strength as these thoughts whirled in his mind…

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Evacuating a major city is a very difficult task. Fortunately or unfortunately, because of the Thanagarian invasion and occasional threat of a lunatic with a weapon of mass destruction (in Gotham alone, people had an evacuation for everything from rampaging insects to Joker gas release to giant robot attack), all cities and indeed, many families, had a prepared evacuation plan. This made getting people out much simpler, especially when the Justice League's finally arrived to provide interference from the demons.

And despite Robin's prayers, Batman was there ("Toldja," Shayera said).

Even though the esteemed leader of the Titans wanted nothing more than to hide until he was gone, his sense of duty wouldn't let him run away as he continued to hack and slash. The army and the national guard showing up was a welcome relief. These might be demons, but as Robin had proved, an explosive would still hurt them, and they had plenty of that now, even if normal bullets didn't do much more than give them pricks. So what? That bought more than enough time for someone to get explosive on them.

Eventually, they managed to established a secured area (more or less secured, anyway, meaning no demons got within fifty feet of it and survived), allowing them to set up a sort of command center. That's when the unpleasantness started.

Robin had just allowed himself a moment to take a breather and flex his fingers off his new halberd (they'd been getting tight) when an ominous feeling came over him, a chill going up his neck just as Harley said, "Hey Mistah B! Long time no see!"

Robin stiffened, them closed his eye as he turned around, praying Harley was talking to someone else whose name started with B, like, say… Barney? Bigglesworth? Blewregard Q. Kazoo?

There was no such luck as he found Batman standing ominously behind him.

Quite unfortunately, unlike other people, _he_ didn't have the option of fainting on sight when Batman appeared… although he very much wanted to hide somewhere. "Sir," he managed to say stiffly, straightening just short of ramrod (_that_ was reserved for Alfred, who could be even scarier).

"What's the situation?" Batman said, and Robin swore the minute his voice hit the air, all the demons _cringed_, he was just that scary.

He tried not to gulp. "I have part of my team at crowd control, keeping demons off civilians. Another one is assisting Doctor Fate, Etrigan, Zatanna and a civilian magic-user in trying to overcome the threat of the head demon."

A frown. "Civilian magic-user?"

"He's not affiliated with anyone I know of, although he seems to know our teammate Raven, and has referred to him as his brother," Robin reported.

It was then that Shayera finally walked up to Batman. "About time you guys got here," she said, trailing her sword on the ground.

It was one of the few times Robin saw Batman at a loss– for Batman, which meant it didn't last long. "Why are you wearing a schoolgirl's uniform?"

"It's my new outfit," Shayera answered with a straight face.

Batman looked at her for a long moment. "Green Lantern's reaction should be interesting," was all he said.

Then he rounded back on Robin. "What," he said slowly, "is Harley Quinn doing here? And why does she have a giant mallet?"

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Superman was not having a good day.

It had started out with him burning himself shaving. On the way to work, he'd had to stop and rescue no less than five suicide jumpers (considering how things were currently turning out, they must have known something he didn't). And now he had to deal with magic. Usually, it would be a perfectly normal day for him, but once magic was in the mix, it immediately took a thousand mile nose-dive.

He hated magic…

"I hate magic," he muttered to himself as he used a steel girder as an impromptu weapon to swat demons with. Of the few scars he'd gained upon reaching adulthood, most of them had been caused by magic, and say what you would about a man who wore long underwear under red briefs, he learned from past experience. Keeping his distance in any way made for less scars and hurting.

Still, that didn't mean he managed to avoid everything. For example, those twenty or so flying demons who dived-bombed him into the ground…

A big puff of super-breath (icy mint, of course, fresh and full of life) managed to get hem off him as he found himself back on the ground in the center of a relatively cleared area created by him crashing into the ground. All around him were demons, the long-armed stretchy kind and some newer ones who seemed to have just crawled out of the fire pit.

Grabbing his girder, which had landed nearby, Superman proceeded to defend himself, showing exactly why you don't mess with a guy wearing his underwear on the outside!

A golden lasso attached to a wrecking ball dropped down from the skies.

Or women in bathing suits, for that matter…

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Meanwhile, on the other side of town.

"There's too many of them!" Cyborg cried.

His exclamation was punctuated by the whine of the sonic cannon, the launching of missiles and the loud thudding of a mallet.

"But we're not giving up!" Terr ashouted, sending rocks flying with wild abandon.

Ivy, recognizing the old toy ad they'd stolen the lines from, sweatdropped, giving some men time to gawk at her chest. Beast Boy frowned and chivalrously threatened them with a look and a growl. Since he was a saber-toothed tiger, it was very effective.

"What was that all about?" Ivy asked, frowning and wondering why there were two wet spots and two receding clouds of dust in the distance.

"Nothing," B.B. said innocently, bringing his deviousness (or lack thereof) into question.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

The two turned and both screamed in synchronization, their green skins paling, eyes bugging out, hair almost standing on end. Beast Boy turned into a turtle and tried to hide in his shell. Behind them, people screamed and began running faster, while the little police back up they had started firing at the new wave of demons coming down the street. Starfire bombarded them with her starbolts, the T-car sending a rain of missiles as Terra destabilized the ground to slow them down. Ivy frantically began waving for people to move trying not to look at the danger behind her. It took her a moment to realize Beast Boy was gone from her side, but before she could react to the disappearance of her partner in cowardice… er, crowd control, there was a deep-throated roar as a dumpster flew in the air, striking the closest bunch of demons before a T-rex suddenly charged into the fray, tail whipping widely as it pushed them back (he did _not_ want to know if demon tasted like chicken).

Even with the sudden burst of enthusiasm, however, the Titans were still very much outnumbered, both in the sky and the ground. In addition, they were in a very wide street, meaning the demons had plenty of room to maneuver, despite the barriers of abandoned cars, trucks, rocks and whatever else was handy the Titans had made to cover themselves. To Ivy's jaded supervillain eye, they pretty much looked doomed. Seriously, Starfire and Cyborg had super strength and ranged attacks, Light had firepower, and Terra pretty much controlled everything they were standing on, but they were just four people– no, three _teenagers_ and a nut. Beast Boy, while dangerous in his own right, really had nothing that could deal with the demonic for long and live. They were in a very good death-trap, with no way out…

Then she frowned and thought back to all those times with the Bat, when by all odds he should have been just a speed bump but instead turned out to be a brick wall. Historically, heroes usually managed to get out of these jams. Just look at the Bat…

Then she frowned again, now not even thinking of what she was doing as she kept waving her arm and not noticing two more lechers stopping to gawk (fortunately for her, a– ahem– stray starbolt and clods of dirt made them move off). But the Bat always got out using his brains…

She mentally tallied the people behind her. Beast Boy… dense. Starfire… pretty, but dumb (and naïve, and obviously crushing on Robin and a ton of other stuff, but Ivy didn't go there). Cyborg… a genius, but he associated with Beast Boy a lot. Light… slightly unstable, only mostly same around Raven. Terra… seemed to have the only working braincells, just as long as Raven wasn't around… then she lost it…

Ivy tallied her sins and knew she was going to hell.

As she readied herself to kiss her ass good bye (not noticing the third set of gawkers who were dispatched by a trashcan with a mallet-shaped indent on it), she felt static electricity prickling her skin just as there was a loud cry from behind her…

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"We are here," Fate said as the little party of adventurers… er (wrong genre), team of heroes stopped in their mad rush through the empty and progressively messy streets of San Francisco. Behind them were pools of acrid blood, dissolving severed limbs and lots of blast damage, along with the occasional melting icicles, melted and burning asphalt, and puddles of water.

Raven, mostly recovered from his outburst but still being partially supported (by Keeper now, since Etrigan hadn't had the patience to "Swaddle a child"), looked up to see an old, seemingly abandoned building. While there seemed to be little in the way of structural damage, the dark air about it spoke of neglect, which was strange, since the building was– "A library?" Raven said, over Keeper's muttered, "Bring peace to the lost lambs, give rest to the fangs of the wolf, and deliver punishment to the demon."

Raven gave him a strange look. He'd been saying that every time they'd had a significant lull in the fighting, and while he recognized the quote– Chrono Crusade being one of the few animes Keeper had introduced him to that he had enjoyed– he didn't think it was very appropriate for the situation. Fitting, but not appropriate.

Keeper smiled at him. "Can you stand now?" he asked gently. At Ravens nod, he let go, allowing Raven to regain his balance. The boy swayed slightly before righting himself, and Keeper stepped back, no longer ready to catch him.

The two looked at the adults in front of them, warily keeping an eye out for more enemies. Raven found it strange none showed themselves, even though he could feel their taint everywhere. The skin around his eyes tightened slightly in what for him would be a grimace.

Not that _he_ should be one to talk about taint…

"If you're thinking what I think you're thing, stop it," Keeper muttered to him and he looked at him questioningly, wondering if his brother had read his mind.

"Why here?" Etrigan was musing. "Why would he come here?"

"This might have something to do with it," Keeper said, waving his hand, and suddenly the sign above the library was ripped out by an unseen but not unfelt force revealing…

Raven felt himself stiffen, his mind automatically moving back to his early mediation techniques.

Revealed there, etched into stone, was the Mark of Scath.

As if the etching were a sign to attack, the demons they could all feel but not see began to reveal themselves, flying, crashing, crawling and stalking out of their hiding places. Raven noted new ones in their ranks, red flames in the shape of wolves, dragon-like undead, tall sentinels with fiery axes, tall monsters with rippling muscles and white bones and no flesh…

And appearing in the doorway of the library, flanked on either side by serpentine beings that Raven later learned were Nagas, was Axilano.

Etrigan snarled and the air around Keeper became noticeably colder at his appearance. Raven was surprised his other self didn't immediately attack as he would have expected, instead moving closer to him. Raven instinctively readied his telekinesis for attack or defense, although he knew he would need both in moments.

"Axilano is surprised that you would be foolish enough to come here," Axilano said, sneering at them, an expression Raven had never really understood. What was it's point? "Still, Axilano is glad. It is a fitting tribute to Axilano's new liege…" His eye rested on Raven, who suddenly felt the irrational urge to pull his cloak closer to himself and hide from sight.

"Anyone ever tell you speaking in the third person is a sign of a disturbed mind???" Keeper yelled at him.

There was a bearing of teeth. "Axilano– _I_, if you prefer– remember you, dark spirited one. I wonder how you would taste."

"Come and find out!"

Axilano through back his head and laughed. "Ah, you will be delicious! But you do not distract me from the little black bird. Him, _He_ wants most of all…"

All of a sudden, Axilano suddenly gave a cry and doubled over, seemingly in pain as fire flared on his face. The four magic-users exchanged quick glances.

"NOW!" Etrigan and Keeper cried together, and the four lashed out as the golden power of Nabu, Raven's darkness, Etrigan's fire and Keeper's ice flew towards the gray demon. Some demons tried to intercept for their master, but the shear volume overwhelmed them, and the blast flew relentlessly towards the their target…

Abruptly the cries of pain crescendoed, and in a burst of flames, Axilano stood tall once more, the blast intended for him exploding in a blaze of glory upon a fiery shield. Beneath the shield, his flesh writhed and even as the watched, he began to change. His skin trembled as new muscles seemed to literally rip themselves one his body. His abdomen heaved as two new arms exploded out, each ending in a stone fist. His legs elongated, becoming less stumpy for his size, his arches lengthening until he stood on the balls of his feet. His horns lengthened and curled downward like antenna as four dark wings burst into being on his back…

Hesitantly, Raven said, "I believe the expression is, 'Ug-_ly_'?"

He could feel Doctor Fate looking at him quizzically, surprised by this, but Keeper just laughed and patter him on the shoulder. "My little brother is growing up," he sniffed, pretending to cry. At least, Raven thought so. He could never be sure with him…

Axilano stared down at them, his now four eyes glowing red as the Mark of Scath burned on his brow between the new pair. With an imperious gesture, the other demons began to fly, run and stalk away from the library as Axilano slowly began to walk down the steps three pulsating spheres of darkly-hued energy coming to being in his palm. "My master wishes for entertainment while he waits to be released," Axilano hissed, and with a flick sent the spheres flying.

"Frick, I remember those…" Keeper said, before pushing Raven out of the way, shouting "MOVE!" as he led by example.

Doctor Fate was able to take to the air in time, but the others were not nearly so lucky. Etrigan cried as he was struck, his form shimmering as _something _began to flow out of his chest. Raven, shielded by Keeper's form, could only watch as the sphere struck his brother…

Only for his form to disappear like a soap bubble with a slight 'pop'.

_Astral drone_, Raven realized, remembering the energy forms Keeper was capable of creating for whatever purpose. Quickly, he telekinetically pushed himself to his feet, rolling in a move he had learned from Robin as he attempted to help Etrigan…

He paused. Before him stood Etrigan and Jason Blood. The latter looked pained and surprised, staring at his hands and the being before him, while Etrigan screamed in rage, his form strangely colored in blacks and grays. Only his eyes remained the same, glowing red as ever.

"Meet your inner demon, hostling," Axilano mocked, just as Doctor Fate gave his own cry, the ball having changed direction to follow him. A darker form was ripped from his body, the once-olden metal now a dark grayish-silver, the blue midnight black. It floated before the recovering mage disdainfully, moving above the darker Etrigan.

There was a blur of movement from the side as a gleaming icicle suddenly streaked for Axilano's chest, seeking some kind of heart, but the demon batted it away, sending another pulsating burst of energy. Keeper disappeared in a dark flicker, only to reappear on the other side, a swirling blast of ice now in his hands. Axilano managed to deflect once again, sending a pulse once more, which was again avoided.

The third one struck Keeper squarely in the chest as he appeared above and behind his target.

"Predictable," Axilano sneered as Keeper gave out a cry, clutching at his chest. He fell to the ground in front of Axilano, writhing in pain as a dark form was drawn from him as well, one with a death-white face, an insane grin and green eyes…

Raven just stood there indecisively, trying to decide who to try and help, not knowing if he even could. He caught Axilano's eye.

"Oh, no, little blackbird," the demon– the _pure _demon– said, almost purred, as he stepped closer to Raven. "My master wants me to see to you… _personally_."

Seeing the red eyes he had seen on another before, that he had once seen on himself so long ago in a house now destroyed, on a polished spoon long gone, Raven felt the stirrings of an emotion no one had needed to teach him.

Fear…

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**- To be continued...**

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A/N: mish-mash. That's all I have to say… please check out my profile and deviant art account (shadow-crystal-mage DOT deviantart DOT com) for lots of new fanart, including Shayera in a schoolgirrl's uniform and a non-colored cartoon of Terra pretending to be asleep and snuggling Raven.

A lot of the spells in DC-cartoon-verse can seem to be done by _anybody_ who can talk (just ask Batman), although these are usually the ones that draw on spirits or are inscribed of items of power. Rituals get left lying around a lot too. Must be a nightmare for the American Magical Government. Them again, considering how often it happens, it's like they're not even trying..

I really can't see Dumbledore wearing trunks to the beach. Can you?

And it generally seems to be forgotten that he's old enough to be a veteran of _both_ world wars. In the comic-verse, it's easy to team him up with the JSA…

Hmm…

Has anyone already done that?

All bad things were Ivy's opinion.

For any Keeper fans, consider this: he does not _really_ have that much fight experience. A little against Voldemort and the basilisk, a little against the Guardians, Nerrisa and Bhakhurha, and a few easy massacres. Any experience he has is second-hand and not instinctive, so for now, he can be predictable, although he does have good ideas (like the drone). Heavy firepower is no good when you can't use it.

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, striving for realism and avoiding Sue-ishness, signing off.


	14. Demon's End

A/N: Sorry it took so long.

And now, the _real_ chapter 14, plus a little omake a the bottom featuring Hermione (for those wondering where the HP is…)!

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"I love you," Poison Ivy sighed, rubbing her face against her savior's as she held him in her arms.

Virgil Hawkins, a.k.a. Static, twitched as the full-bodied, mature, scantily clad, large-breasted… (brain overload. RESET! RESET! RESET!) supervillainess who'd tried to kill him once, nearly killed his friend, had run a scam to take advantage of confused metahumans, and was rubbing her front against him…!

"This is killing you, isn't it?" Cyborg said, snickering at the look on the other boy's face.

"Make her stop…" Static whimpered as something besides his voltage started to rise. He was _very_ glad he didn't wear tights.

Terra laughed as she began to pry Ivy off the poor- or, depending on how you looked at it, lucky- boy. "Come on Ivy, let him go. Those demons might come back any minute."

"Doesn't matter," Ivy said, reluctantly loosening her hold but still clinging to Static. "My hero here will save us."

Flash, Fire and Ice, standing off to the side, exchanged looks. "What are we, chopped liver?" the speedster said.

Static, meanwhile, was wondering why he had to pick then to join up with the League. If Richie found out about this, he'd never live it down…

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Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 14: Demon's End

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

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For the nth time that day- he'd sighed, muttered, and thought it so many times he'd lost count- Superman repeated his mantra: "I hate magic."

Right then, magic was making itself very hate-able. Even with Diana to back him up, the two of them were still in deep trouble. Half of the wrecking ball she'd tied to her lasso was gone, and Superman had long since lost his girder. His cape was dramatically tattered, there were scratches on his face, and his outfit more a few holes– though strangely, none of them affected the integrity of his red underwear.

"Having another one of those days, are we?" Diana quipped. Strands of out of place hair fell across her face, and her limbs were scratched up as well. She swung her wrecking ball in a quick arc, more to deter than to hit anything.

Superman charged up his heat vision, firing quick bursts that burned through demons and left them open as be redefined 'looks could kill'. "Oh, _you_ laugh. It's not as bad for you. _You're_ magic."

"Why, thank you," she said demurely as she dashed forward to slam her wrecking ball into a demon, surrounding herself so she could attack in any direction she wanted. Her hands flashed in super-speed, sending demon flying away, only for them to be swept aside by her wrecking ball.

In the lull however, a new wave of demons struck, the flaming hell-hounds latching themselves onto her bracelets and holding her in place like fiery manacles as dragon-like zombies lumbered into view.

"_AGUAMENTI!_"

Streams of water suddenly lashed out at the wolves. Steam hissed as they were thrown back, into the path of a veritable rain of spells. The demons were blasted apart, frozen and drowned as another wave turned on the dragon-zombies, setting them alight or dropping bits of buildings on them.

A hand reached out to help Diana up. It was old and gnarled, but when she took it, it managed to pull her up with a minimum of effort. "Hello Albus. What are you doing in the States?"

Albus Dumbledore smiled. "Vacation."

"You should have gone to Australia. Less insanity there."

"Ah, but where's the fun in that, Diana?"

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"What have I done to deserve this?" Robin muttered to himself. He took his frustrations out on the next demon who reared it's ugly head his way, slashing at it's anatomical weak points savagely with his blade staff and managing to decapitate and amputate all four of it's arms.

As if in response, he heard Harley scream shrilly– it sounded suspiciously something like "Omni-bash"– followed by a series of fleshy squelchings as various body parts got pounded. He had no idea what the mallet was made of, but whatever it was, it was light enough for Harley to easily swing around with both hands while still somehow doing significant damage to anything it hit. They had the impact craters in the concrete to prove it.

"That can't be it," he muttered as he fought, launching himself in the air and spearing downward several times before he flipped back right side up. The snake-thing keeled over and went 'poof'. "That was a _good_ thing! I can't be punished for that!"

Shayera streaked past, the crackling edge of her sword leaving a trail of ozone and blood as she slashed. Robin a flashbacks to the million-plus times Cyborg had tried to kill Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts 2.

Sighing, the Boy Wonder snatched a handful of freeze disks and threw it in the general direction of the flaming dog things, who promptly got extinguished. On a normal day, he'd have people 'ooh'-ing and 'ah'-ing at his skills and general over-all coolness. Today, however…

A black flicker, and suddenly ten demons were dissolving.

Today, Batman was totally out-showing him. Granted there wasn't anyone to see, and it really wasn't a competition, and he really wasn't after the accolades but still, IT WAS THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING! Really, all he had to do was make one pass with those bat-shaped crescent blades and three demons died!

For a guy who hated magic, Batman was awfully good at taking it down.

Robin paused a moment to think as he back-flipped into the air, avoiding three spear hands as he deployed a bomb. Come to think of it, it actually made a lot of sense.

Batman had quickly been followed by Shining Knight, Green Arrow and blue Devil, who were all doing pretty well in holding their own. The Knight and Shayera were keeping the air clear, with occasional assistance from Blue. The were making a stand at an intersection, keeping the demons from reaching a primary evacuation point. So far, they were succeeding, but it was only a matter of time before they got overrun. GA was going to run out of arrows soon, and Robin was already low on gadgets. If something didn't happen soon…

That was all Robin managed to think of before a new wave of demons suddenly came down the street, consisting of what looked zombified dragons. Soon it was all Robin could do to dodge out of the way as diseased talons on rotting claws tried to tear him apart. He barely managed to avoid the fetid mass, using one of his last freeze discs to capture and break it apart.

A dark shadow suddenly swept over him, and he was being carried through the air, away from the demons to the relative safety of a high ledge.

"Thanks," he said as Batman set him down, but the Dark Knight was already turning to observe the demons as they regrouped. Suppressing a sigh as he remembered his partner's annoying habits, Robin did the same.

Green Arrow seemed to have gotten out okay with Blue devil– for a moment, Robin wondered why some heroes had color-modifiers on their names– the two of them standing on a building across the street. Demons were already beginning to scale it's walls– Robin looked down; yup, demons climbing up too– while Shining Knight and Hawkgirl were still nowhere to be seen.

"Should I be disturbed that Harley still seems to be holding her own?" Robin said as he watched the mallet-wielding psycho bash anything that got close. He might not have been hearing correctly, but it certainly sounded like she was laughing.

"Quinn always was resilient," Batman said.

A thought occurred to Robin. "By the way, is Joker still in a coma?" he asked, hefting his staff, knowing this little break wouldn't last long. "I'd sleep easier knowing he won't be in town any time soon."

"Still no change," Batman said. "Doctors aren't too hopeful." He almost sounded happy.

"_Agengam!_"

The two raised their eyebrows as the voice rang through the street, and a construct of whirling orbs and lightning appeared and began pulling demons towards it.

"I've been wondering where Zatanna's been getting her spells lately," Batman said as some of the weaker demons were destroyed by either the electricity or by being crushed by bigger demons.

"I think she's been playing _**Kingdom Hearts 2**_," Robin provided.

"_Dne Slla!_"

"Definitely KH2," Robin said as a line of light appeared…

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Raven knew fear. It was an emotion he had no trouble recognizing, a primal state that was the survival instinct's response to over-whelming, mortal danger. It released hormones in the body that heightened awareness, making it easier to either run or attack.

Flight or fight.

Right then, he was torn as to which response to follow. Escape was not viable, as Axilano would only continue hunting him, and he could not abandon his friends. Yet neither was attack, for he was not yet fully recovered from his previous outburst.

The boy teleported from shadow to shadow, trying to stay ahead of Axilano as the demon continued to seek him out. Raven held his wand securely, the cord he'd tied to it looped over his wrist in case he dropped it. He would need every weapon he could muster.

Teleporting once more, barely ahead of a rain of fire, Raven prayed his companions were all right, hoping someone would listen to the plea of a half-demon who wasn't a demon themselves…

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"Hey, anyone hear that?" Flash said, looking towards the sound of something rumbling.

Cyborg tilted his head, listening as well. "Sounds like someone going through the walls of a building."

Static raised and eyebrow at him, not stopping trying to pry Poison Ivy off him. "How would _you_ know?"

"I get sent through walls a lot;."

Starfire nodded in confirmation– she got sent through walls a lot too–as she cocked her head, listening intently. "A body appears to be freefalling in our direction as well."

Beast Boy pointed up. "Hey, isn't that Doctor Fate?"

Fire shaded her eyes. "Which one?"

Terra blinked. "Isn't there only _one_ Doctor Fate?"

Any further discussion was cut off as a streak of gray-tainted black energy struck the ground, showering them all with concrete. They all took cover, Light, Terra and Static using their powers to shield themselves.

"Everyone okay?" Static asked as he dissolved his electrokinetic shield, trying to move to check up on everyone despite the fact that Ivy had clamped on tighter than ever and was doing another round of "I love you… my hero".

"We are unharmed," Starfire said as she helped Ice to her feet.

"Missed us?" Flash said as he dashed back with Fire in his arms, almost stepping on a little green rat.

"Hey! Watch it!" Beast Boy cried as he reverted back to his human form.

"_**AIHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!**_"

"Cyborg!" Ivy cried in concern, prying herself off Static– the boy breathed a sigh of relief– as she rushed towards where the other teen lay on his knees, shoulders shaking. "Cyborg, are you all right?"

"My baby!" Cyborg screamed, trying to rub out a small scratch in the finish with the polisher on his arm. "They hurt my baby! Those monsters will pay for this!"

People sweat-dropped as the Titan's resident techie began to rage against people with no respect for other people's babies. Light nodded in approval at his prose structure, beaming proudly as Cyborg went on a particularly long-winded tangent.

"Um, so, anyone see where the doc went?" Flash said.

"Up there!" Terra cried, pointing at two specs in the sky. Demons circled them, yet they only attacked one. "I'm guessing the blue one's him, but who's the other guy?"

Cyborg, still grieving over his 'baby' but recovering, focused his electronic eye at the specs. "It looks like… Doctor Fate? There are two of them!"

"How'd _that_ happen?" Flash asked.

"Ooh! Evil demon twin!" Beast Boy suggested.

"Beast Boy, be serious," Ivy said.

Meanwhile, in the sky, gold and gray-tainted black battled…

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"Bad Etrigan! Bad Etrigan!" Wonder Woman cried as she tried to restrain the strangely monochromatic demon.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Superman sweat-dropped. "Diana, he's not a baby anymore."

Dumbledore wondered about young people as he tried to help Diana take down the demon, his wand spitting out spell after spell. He was hindered, however, by the fact that she might get hit, keeping him from using more powerful magic. Superman held back, trying to find an opening as the wizards Albus managed to rally– a mixture of professional colleagues, friends, and war buddies from the previous World Wars– held the weaker– relatively– demons back by force of numbers, and shear volume of spells. Magic that hadn't been seen since the Nazis were beaten fell amongst their number, shredding demons as effectively as it had the Third Reich.

Off to the side, Blood struggled to his feet, recovering from a near miss combined with having Etrigan sucked out of him. His normally impeccable hair was matted with his namesake, but that didn't stop his hand from glowing as he concentrated on his spell. "Diana! Off!"

Wonder Woman leapt out of the way, and Etrigan was bombarded in three directions as Blood, Dumbledore and Superman let loose with magic and heat vision. As the demon reeled, Diana managed to snag him with her lasso, it's golden form circling him and pulling tight.

"Etrigan! Get a hold of yourself!" she said as the lasso glowed, it's magic taking hold.

Etrigan screamed as Truth burned his skin, a few barely coherent words falling off his lips. "I… _can't! _Too… strong!"

They all exchanged glances in the lull. No one had any idea what to do…

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"KEEPER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?-!-?" Robin screamed as the black-clad wraith-like form rained icy death on them all, humans and demons alike, ignoring their screams. Zatanna was trying to maintain her barrier to shield the heroes and wizards, sweat streaming down her forehead as she was strained by the size.

Keeper ignored him, icicles continuing to fall as he laughed. "Where are you, playmate? Come out, come out and plaaaaaay!"

"You know, he was a lot nicer this morning," Harley noted as she tried to take refuge under her mallet like an umbrella.

A blast of pure dark energy suddenly struck Keeper from behind, knocking off several feet before he regained his equilibrium. "You know, you're a pretty sucky copy," a black-clad, not-wraith-like form said as he sent balls of fire to mass towards the doppelganger. "Ice is _not_ the only thing I can do! And who says 'play' in two straight sentences?"

"Oh, _there_ he is!" Harley said, just before she suddenly dropped her mallet, nearly hitting Batman's foot. "Sorry mistah B! It just got heavy all of a sudden!"

People ran for cover as ice stopped falling, the two nearly identical forms exchanging magic in the air. Gray-tainted ice met fire and wind as they fought, elements blasting indiscriminately between them. Harley, meanwhile, was still trying to pick up her mallet, although the best she could do was drag it along. Robin went back to pull her away.

"What's happening up there?" Green Arrow asked, pulling out one of his remaining arrows but not taking aim, not sure who to target.

"Look's like Keeper's fighting a copy of himself," Zatanna supplied, slightly out of breath as she leaned on Batman for support. "It feels demonic in nature, so Axilano probably made it. Demons are fond of doing stuff like that."

"So which one's the real one?" Robin asked, trying to pick them out from where he was.

Zatanna shook her head. "I can't tell from here," she said, then paused, smiling slightly. "Although Shayera probably could…"

Batman was already on his communicator. "Shayera, where are you?"

Harley, watching the battle intently, blinked as one flickered out just as two winged forms approached. "Hey, one of them's gone!"

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There's really no way you can fight yourself and win. Although Keeper was pretty sure all his copy had was a copy of his auramere power-wise, fighting it had been hard since it knew exactly_ how he would respond._ He'd gotten lucky shooting it in the back, but after that it had managed to counter him hit for hit, so much so that he'd had to stop maintaining the spell that kept Harley's mallet light.

So when he'd seen Shining Knight and Shayera with her new sword closing in, he'd done the only logical thing he could think off.

He went to fight something else.

Fate's clone didn't know he was there until he rammed an icicle into it's chest. Ice might not be the only thing he could do, but he was best at it. "Take care of my clone," he said as the demon-copy disintegrated back into energy an re-merged with Fate. "I'll take out Etrigan and go after Raven."

A wave of his hand and Fate was being– involuntarily– teleported towards were he'd let off. That done, he went to look for Etrigan…

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Blood tried to pry off Etrigan's hand as the demon squeezed the life out of him, trying futilely to use a spell even as his vision began to fade. Wonder Woman and Superman were trying to reach him, but other demons had cut them off, keeping them back even as they tried to press on through. The wizards Dumbledore had brought with him were trying to help, but there was only so much they could do. The old man himself lay crumpled at the base of a wall, stunned by an unexpected attack. He would not recover in time…

A blast of pure darkness erupted from the side, shearing through Etrigan's arm before moving to consume him. He didn't even have time to scream before he dissolved, a small orb of energy appearing in his place.

"You okay?" the boy who called himself Keeper said as he approached Blood, a glowing black pendant floating above his hand as he walked.

Blood grunted as air, and the ball of energy entered him, and he allowed himself a few moments to catch his breath. He was vaguely aware of lightning falling down on the demons' ranks, of the wizards raising a ragged cheer as their load was lightened. "I will be fine. Is Fate…?"

"Took care of his clone. Catch up, I'm heading for Raven," Keeper said, then paused, staring. "Is that… _Albus Dumbledore?_"

Blood, bemused, could only reply, "Yes."

Keeper shuddered. "He looks weird in that suit," was all he said, before disappearing.

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Raven landed hard, trying to roll with the force and failing miserably. He struggled to stand, to move, to be anywhere _but_ where he was as another fireball streaked at him, barely deflecting on a hastily constructed shield of darkness. The force of it sent Raven bouncing again, and this time he managed to get to his feet, hands raised and glowing with energy as he tried to prepare himself.

"Come here, little blackbird," Axilano taunted as he approached, wings fluttering behind him. "I won't hurt you. I _promise._"

And he wouldn't, Raven knew. He was need to open the way… and to do that, he needed to be alive…

He would rather die.

Silently, Raven charged, razor-sharp streaks of telekinetic energy flying at his call towards the demon, talon-like constructs studding the tips of his fingers as his cloak billowed open behind him. Axilano parried with his stone arms, the constructs breaking on his flesh but Raven didn't stop. What little hand-to-hand fighting skills he'd picked up on the road and from Robin wasn't much, but he knew how to move effectively. His hands and feet lashed out awkwardly, reinforced by telekinetic claws and fields as more razors came into being.

The black energy cushioned the impacts on the demon's body, hard as stone and more than enough to break his bones on without it. Axilano stumbled back, once, twice, cuts appearing on his skin as talons and razors hit home.

And them he hit back. One sweep of his arm was all it took to send Raven flying back, the impact barely cushioned by a quick shield. "Very forward, aren't we, little blackbird?" the demon said as he strode forward, just before a bus slammed into him, knocking him back several feet. In a burst of infernal flame, the bus flew apart, sending fiery shrapnel everywhere as Axilano roared. Raven tried to take advantage of his momentary dramatics, his hands coming forward in a bursting stream of dark energy, only to be met with a blast of pure infernal flame.

Force met force as the two blasts began pushing at each other. Raven didn't dare stop, knowing that if he did he wouldn't have time to get out of the fire's path. Instead, he pushed harder, trying to use what emotion he was feeling to make his power stronger without it going out of control and doing more harm then good, even as the fire began moving slowly but surely towards him. Sweat began to bead his scarred forehead, both from the heat and the concentration.

"Surrender, blackbird!" the demon said as he fired, seemingly unburdened by having to match and surpass Raven's output. "Your father misses you. He wants his _precious_ little gem…"

Raven stumbled as his concentration shook, the backlash from having his power pushed back so firmly beginning to take it's toll on him as a small trail of blood began to drip from his nose as capillaries burst…

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"RAVEN IS _**WHAT**_?"

The cry ripped out from four different female throats as Fate cringed, even if two of them came from the speaker of Robin's communicator. The looks on Zatanna and Harley's faces were more than enough to let him know what Terra and Poison Ivy were like on the other end of the line. The clown-garbed licensed psychiatrist was bug-eyed and slack-jawed as she looked up at him in shock, no longer trying to lift up her mallet. Zatanna's lips were set in a thin-worried line as she tightly gripped her wand and top-hat.

"Raven is facing Axilano alone," Fate repeated, and was very thankful when they didn't explode in exclamations. "His power has grown since you've last seen him, and it is highly doubtful Raven will last long on his own. It was Keeper's intention to go back to Raven after he has dealt with Etrigan, but I fear even his abilities are not sufficient to deal with the demon now."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get over there!" Terra cried, the sound of something being torn off the ground coming clearly through the speaker, followed by a mild commotion as people tried to keep her from haring off and doing something rash. "Hey, let me go! Ooh, Beast Boy, you really need a bath!"

"Look, I'm worried about him too, but we need a plan!" Robin said, pointing out the obvious. "If Axilano's gotten more powerful, then you can't just go off alone."

"If Axilano's gotten more powerful, Raven could already be dead!" Terra shot back. A pause. "_Seriously_ Beast Boy, when all this is done, you're taking a bath!"

"I do not believe Axilano intends to kill Raven," Fate said, noticing Batman talking on his communicator off to the side. "He seemed more intent on Raven's capture."

Zatanna frowned. "That might be even worse."

"How so?" Robin asked.

"Demons aren't one for idle abduction. If they want Raven for some reason, then there's got to be a big, _bad_ reason behind it," she explained.

"Duh," Cyborg said. "He's either a sacrifice, or the key to lots of bad mojo. We know the drill."

Zatanna pouted. "Curse _**Buffy**_ for taking away the drama in my profession," she grumbled. Fate patted her consolingly.

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Albus Dumbledore has proven on several occasions to be, if not perfect, then a very proficient leader. Although it is true he personally defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald, this is true only so long as the term 'personally' is interpreted as 'was personally fighting him for a full interrupted five minutes prior to his death and was the one who managed to land the killing blow'. Actually, it was a whole team of wizards led by Dumbledore who finally managed to reach the Dark Master of the Reich and bypassed him in favor of their target man (the team would later regret not getting the bragging rights for having finished off 'Mr. Moustache'). Under his leadership, the group managed to get past Inferi, werewolves, some minor demons (basically demonic rats and cockroaches) and an seemingly unstoppable Juggernaut dubbed Captain Nazi to reach the wielder of the Lance of Longinus (which was dubbed too dangerous to remain in wizard hands and given to some trustworthy Muggles for safe keeping). And although he possessed no official position during the war against Voldemort besides that of Headmaster of Hogwarts, his charisma and leadership skills, as well as his knowledge of the tactics that had worked against the Nazi's in their own territory allowed him to organize a resistance group able to meet with Voldemort's Death Eaters.

Superman, on the other hand, was one of _**the**_ most recognizable figures on the planet and some other places of the universe, known to both Muggle- and Wizard-kind alike. His very presence inspires a reaction, whether that be admiration or dread. Whole armies would just drop their guns and surrender whenever he appeared, and criminals would meekly accompany him to their punishment, knowing there was nothing they could do.

On the last extreme, Diana was an immortal warrior whose whole life had been spent training for war while seeking peace. She'd lived on an island above a gate to the underworld. She knew demons.

Between the three of them, the wizards, soldiers and belated-arriving Leaguers were pushing back the demon tide. They might not have been the World's Finest, but two out of three ain't bad to have on your side.

Statute of Secrecy? Wizards? What the heck are you talking about, those weren't wizards, those were courageous American citizens helping defend their city! We did not see any wands. There were no magic wands. There was no magic…

This is, after all, the country that scans genuine magic texts and allows them to be accessible from the internet…

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The boy who called himself Keeper drop-floated down the shaft, ignoring the weird, four-eyed, robed, ghost-like thingies as they hovered about. He was more or less invisible to them, or so he hoped, otherwise this could end up pretty bad…

Floating across the floor so as not to activate any traps, a few wrong turns quickly led him to a vast chamber, and he took a moment to admire the architecture. Giant cloaked figures stretching up to the ridiculously high ceiling– how the _heck_ did this manage to hide in San Francisco?– were arrayed around the room at intervals, while in the center was a large, outstretched hand, it's palm open, fingers curved talon-like upwards. A set of stairs led up to the platform this made.

Above the hand, a blazing orb floated, burning with the intensity of a sun as it pulsed and raged. Small arcing tendrils like solar flares crested across it's surface as Keeper felt the power flowing out of it, making his skin want to crawl, badly. Floating upwards for a better look, he could almost _swear_ it looked like a gem…

A shiver ran through him as he spied a familiar outline zigzagging across the surface of the apparent gem. Well, at least he knew what had happened to the rock that was supposed to be on Raven's head…

Smiling grimly, he summoned the Heart into his hands and got to work…

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The edges of Raven's cloak smoldered as from a previous near miss as he tried to bombard Axilano with telekinetically accelerated objects from all directions clearly straining as his eyes continued glowing nonstop into their tenth minute. The flow of blood from his nose had slowed to a dull trickle, and was already drying as he fought desperately. He'd managed to put his marks on the demon, as his ragged wings and the stump of one hand attested, but he knew they were only temporary victories. The stump was already starting to grow back as fire wove to block off Raven's attacks.

Raven looked even worse. Besides his cloak– which would repair itself eventually– the armored clothes he was wearing was sporting it's own share of damage. One of the faux stones on the back of his gloves was gone, and the metal inserts were uncomfortably hot, a testament to too many close calls. The majority of one heel had been melted, making it difficult for Raven to walk as his balance kept getting thrown off.

Abruptly, Raven let the bombardment end, the unused projectiles flopping to the ground. Almost immediately, the flaming shield began to dissolve as Axilano came out of his cover. With a flick of his wrist, Raven sent one of the black Birdarangs Robin had loaded his utility belt with flying, it's explosive charge primed. This time, however, instead of grabbing it with his hand, Axilano jumped back, the explosion sending debris flying at him.

"Using the same trick twice, little blackbird?" the demon taunted. "Finally running out of _fire_? Because I am not!"

Raven snapped up his wand as the burst of flame rushed towards him. "_Aguamenti!_"

Water poured out of his wand, augmented by his telekinesis into a liquid shield. He'd found it an efficient deterrent against purely flame-based attacks as it blocked both the heat and the force. However, it was much more draining, since he needed to concentrate on both of his magic at once.

A glint of gold flickered into being…

"TITANS, **GO AND KICK ASS!**" Tara's voice cried, and suddenly, Axilano was beleaguered on multiple fronts by super-powered– and in Robin's case, obsessive-workaholic-Type-A-personality-martial-artist-vigilante– teenagers and slightly insane– and in Poison Ivy's case, slightly-insane-with-mother-hen-ish-tendencies– adults all _very_ pissed that he was picking on their teammate. Off to the side, Doctor Fate, Zatanna, Batman and Hawkgirl– they'd left the other Leaguers to help with the crowd control– all paused to stare at the… rather _excessive_ violence being committed on the person of the surprised demon.

"That had to hurt," Zatanna said, wincing as Cyborg gut-punching arm quickly morphed into his sonic cannon, which blasted a charge right at the moment of impact, sending Axilano flying straight into Harley's mallet, which was being wielded by a green gorilla. She gave Batman a sideways look. "What has your kid been _teaching_ those guys?"

Batman said nothing, watching as Terra did a rock-based rendition of Raven's previous omni-directional Xemnas-like bombardment with Starfire providing the colorful backup. Ivy and Harley had gone off to tend to Raven, who had fallen to his knees in exhaustion. Careful note was made of the delicacy of their handling, their expressions– concern– their gestures– tender– and their words– "RAVEN/RAE-RAE! ARE YOU OKAY?"– as they helped him to his feet while checking him for injuries.

"You just going to stand there?" Zatanna asked. Batman didn't stir as he moved his concentration towards the demon currently beginning to mentally recover from the initial surprise and brutality of the attack while being scored by several lightning-fast strikes from a light-whip coupled with a few acid bombs. Zatanna rolled her eyes and flexed her wrists, readying her wand. "Fine. Be like that. I'm joining in. _Yruf Amitlu_!"

The Titan's drew back as the copyright-infringed spell began to strike, Fate, Starfire and Cyborg adding their own loud and colorful additions to the display with starbolts, ankhs and sonic fire, while Shayera, Robin, Light and Beast Boy stood with their melee weapons ready. It wasn't long before flame began to reappear, and the casters increased their rate of fire, trying to get as many hits in before–

_**BOOM!!!**_

Everyone– except for Batman, because he was the only one who knew better than to get into a close quarters fight with a powerful demon, and Raven, Ivy and Harley, since they were out of range– was thrown back as the burst of fire exploded outwards. Robin felt the heat even through his fire-proof cape; Beast Boy's fur began to smolder and he frantically began to do the roll.

"**FOOLS!**" Axilano cried. "**I AM EMPOWERED BY THE GREAT SCATH HIMSELF! THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO HARM ME! I AM INVINCIBLE! I AM–**"

There was a 'poof' that sounded strangely like a fart, and the flames suddenly fizzled out. Everyone blinked, even Axilano, stupidly looking at each other and wondering what happened.

Then the demon suddenly doubled over, screaming in pain as what looked like red vapors began to leak out of his body. His wings withered, his arms shriveled, his muscles deflated like a DBZ power-up in reverse. This was all accompanied by loud screams of denial. Within moments, Axilano had been reduced to the form he'd had earlier that morning, with the poop-tone skin, curly horns and only one pair of arms.

"You are," a voice called out, "in _**SO**_ much deep (BLEEP)!"

Keeper skipped nimbly over the rumble-strewn war zone, a wide smile on his face, a darkly glowing pendant hanging around his neck. "The thing about small tears in the magical fabric of reality is that, if you know what you're doing, you can _close_ them," he said, winking as he kicked aside a rock. "Even as we speak, those little demons you summoned are no longer being replenished. I'd hazard some are being rejected out, and a few of the smart ones are even going back on their own. Oh, and your little 'cheat code' power-up has effectively been cancelled out. Which means…"

A wicked, _wicked_, _**wicked**_, _**wicked**_ grin crossed his face as an icicle-lance extended from his arm, a grin that was suddenly copied by all of the Titans and the magic-using Leaguers.

"…you are about _**TO GET YOUR ASS KICKED!**_"

You could almost _hear_ Axilano's gulp as (primarily) teenaged death stared him in the face.

With a mighty cry, the Titans and their allies were on him, punching, kicking, blasting and occasionally biting at the demon. Harley joined, gleefully finding that her mallet was once more light as a feather. With renewed energy, they struck, light whips, rocks, ankh-blast, punches, kicks, swords, icicles, mallets, blades, and whatever Zatanna was using hitting and now actually _hurting_.

Still, a cornered animal is the most dangerous. It has nothing left to lose. They were all surprised when Axilano began throwing them off him, the element of shock and surprise wearing off. They were suddenly reminded that, 'cheat code' power-up or no, this was still a powerful demon they were up against. Robin and Harley managed to dodge, their considerable athletic ability coming to the fore as they managed to stick it out. Everybody else went flying, although Starfire, Fate and Shayera managed to catch themselves in the air before they hit anything. Everyone else ate dirt, Cyborg landing with a solid thump as everyone else slid painfully through the rubble. Beast Boy, Terra and Keeper, being the lightest, actually bounced a couple of times before they came to a rest.

"NO!" Axilano protested. "No mortal shall defeat me! I am the demon Axilano! I shall feast on your souls and–"

An ocher yellow finger tapped his shoulder, followed quickly by an ocher yellow fist into his jaw.

"My turn to have fun," Etrigan grinned as he threw himself at the other demon.

Keeper pushed himself up, shaking his head and wincing as the headache got worse. Some distance away, Batman was checking on Terra. From the way she was stirring, it looked like she was all right. Beast Boy was also groggily getting to his feet.

A hand came to rest on the traveler's shoulder and a cool, healing sensation washed over him. His headache disappeared.

"Thanks," he told Raven, standing wearily next to him. Placing his own hand on the half-demon, he returned the favor.

Raven straightened, flexing his fingers. "Let us end this."

Keeper palmed the crystal around his neck. "Agreed."

Etrigan and Axilano wear locked in mortal struggle when the twin blasts of different dark energies suddenly struck the darker demon, separating the two and causing the target to go flying into a convenient magically-reinforced wall (courtesy of Zatanna). Multiple blasts followed, starbolts, ankhs, light balls and more darkness striking in rapid succession as Keeper dashed forward.

Axilano tried to stand, raising his arms to try and cast a spell to block the attacks. A bolo suddenly flew, twining his limbs in reinforced metal bands. While certainly no match for his strength, they caught him by surprise and caused him to stumble, giving Keeper the precious few seconds he needed.

His arm glowing darkly, he plunged his hand into Axilano's chest, phasing through the skin, and began rooting around. "Com on, come on…" he muttered under his breath as he searched through Axilano's soul. His hand made contact with flesh. "Got it!" he cried, and he pulled. A hand– a human hand– came out of the demon's chest, followed by an arm and finally a whole person. It was a boy with short, dirty-blond hair, and pale, pock-marked skin. "I've got the kid! Finish him off!"

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Axilano cried as he broke the metal bonds Batman had thrown at him, grasping at Keeper and the boy. Keeper dodged away, shielding himself and his passenger as the Titans and Leaguers blasted the demon away. With her own cry, Shayera swooped down, the blade of her sword crackling as she dove in to strike.

Axilano finally screamed in pain as his right arm was cut off, ichor beginning to spew from the wound. A wild blast of power had her out of the air and kissing the ground, her hand losing her grip on her sword as she fell. Before she was even settled, Batman was swooping in to pull her out of harm's way just as everyone let loose another barrage.

Raven held out his hand, black telekinesis reaching for to grasp Shayera's fallen blade and bring it towards him. Holding it in a two-handed grip, he examined the handle. "How do you activate this?"

"_ON_," Keeper commanded as he teleported next to Raven, laying down his unconscious burden. The weapon flickered to life, energy arcing up and down it's length.

Axilano stumbled groggily, suddenly doubling over as Cyborg's fist struck his gut. A horn fell off as he barely managed to avoid getting decapitated by Robin's blade. He fended them off with his remaining arm, but that didn't stop the green tyrannosaurus tail from hitting him in the back. Starfire's fist met him head on, her uppercut drastically changing his direction but not his speed as he was sent reaching for the sky.

Raven's cloak fluttered in the wind as he materialized above the demon, blue fabric outstretched behind him like wings on an emissary of death. Holding the nth-metal blade hilt-up, he wrapped it within his power, using his telekinesis to give himself strength as he thrust the point into Axilano's chest. He was barely able to get it past the demon's skin, even as the smell of burnt flesh began to rise, the arcs of energy crackling through the skin cooking it.

Axilano fell, slamming into the ground…

Right in front of Harley and her mallet.

"FORE!" she cried, hitting the hilt of the sword like a nail and driving the rest of the blade right into the demon and into the ground.

Everyone was blinded at the burst of light that followed. Harley was knocked back– _way_ back– on her butt by the shockwave, an intangible wave of energy washing away from the site.

----------------------------------------

Cheers rose all across the city as demons suddenly began to disappear, their last link to this plane gone.

Dumbledore allowed himself to sag slightly, leaning casually against a still-standing lamp-post to hide it. He tucked his wand into his clothes so that he wouldn't drop it with his suddenly shaky grip. "I'm getting too old for this…" he muttered quietly to himself.

"You don't say?" a voice said quietly. The old wizard opened one eyes, mildly amused to note Superman was casually supporting his wait on a remaining piece of wall. "Aren't people your age usually at their second wind?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Kal-El, people my age are usually already long dead and gone after several years of playing with their grandchildren. Even amongst wizards, it is rare for someone to live significantly beyond a hundred."

"Oh? Then why…?"

"Oh, I'm just dead stubborn that way."

The two stood silently for a while, enjoying the momentary relative peace of victory, knowing it would only be a matter of time before they'd need to get off their butts and clean up the mess, not to mention working to expunge any mention of Wizards– with the exception of the League's Meta-magi– out of any mention of events. The Statute of Secrecy was the Wizarding World's blanket 'secret identity', and even though they liked to poke at it some of the time, they knew as well as the superheroes did how important it was. But that would be for later, after…

After…

Dumbldore opened his eyes, some shine of youth returning to his twinkling blues. "By the way, where are we having the After-Victory Party?"

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**EPILOGUE**

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Several days later, Titan's Tower was particularly crowded.

Beast Boy was in his element, being the all-cool life of the party– or, as everybody else saw him, that green comic relief kid who was _just _too cute to get slapped who was always making a fool of himself but not seeming to notice. He was wearing a party hat, one of those curly whistle things on his mouth and a noisemaker in each hand.

He was in fact so cute that Fire, Ice and Gypsy were fawning over him, much to Flash and Booster Gold's disgruntlement. Seriously, what was so cute about a little green kid with fangs and pointy ears?

Robin did _not_ like Titan's Tower being used as party central, a fact he'd made perfectly clear over the few days leading up to the party, but when Superman asked you, how was he to say no? His time was currently divided with trying to make sure no one spiked the punch, trying to avoid Supergirl and Stargirl, and making sure Starfire didn't see him with the two.

…

Not that he _cared_, or anything…

He didn't have to work so hard, since Supergirl and Terra apparently managed to hit it off, while Stargirl and Harley compared their respective 'rods'. He had a sneaking suspicion those two would be showing up at the Tower though…

Keeper spent the party as a girl, maneuvering Raven towards the opposite side of the room from Albus Dumbledore and making sure his hood was up. This was helped by the fact the old man was slightly tipsy and in the midst of praising Zatanna and Fate, wishing he'd had more people like them during the Second World War.

They all partied into the night, culminating in Doctor Light (the guy), Cyborg and Black Canary getting into a Karaoke competition…

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**- To be continued…**

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A/N: PARTY!

There are too many 'manipulative-old-bastard!Dumbledores' out there, so I'm countering with my 'Heroic-Justice-League-reserve-member!Dumbledore'.

Regarding Raven's 1-on-1 with Axilano versus canon!Raven's 1-on-1 with Slade, here, Raven started out afraid and slightly desperate– for him– while canon!Raven was pissed off. That made the difference.

Anyway, one last Titans chap, and then it's off the Hogwarts again!

…

Well, the Weasley's place at least…

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**OMAKE: Everyone and Their Grandma**

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All over the place, in areas within and without the reach of man, people were watching their TV (or thing closest to it), taking in the report of the demon attack on San Francisco. They watch in concern, some partly wishing they could help, others were jealous _they_ weren't doing it, and still others didn't feel about it one way or another.

Then a certain boy in a long blue cloak appeared on the scream, fighting for his life against something out of a horror movie.

Many people gaped. Lots did spit-takes. Not a few jumped to their feet. And almost every single one blazed a trail to San Francisco.

After all, Raven was there.

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"We are so doomed," Ivy said bleakly as she finished writing up her Last Will and Testament. Close to her, the rather ragged forces of the Justice League, the Titans and whatever local wizards Zatanna and Dumbledore could rouse were making their last stand. All of them were worn out, down to their last gadgets, spells, weapons or whatever.

"We can't just give up," Static wheezed, even though he was barely staying in the air as it was.

"You gotta admit," Flash said, "it looks like we're going to need a miracle for this one."

Superman's ears twitched, and he frowned. "You guys hear something?"

Before anyone could reply, a loud wail echoed through the area. Glass broke, buildings trembled, and nearly everyone was knocked for a loop and given a mild headache. Yet that was nothing compared to what happened to the demons, who all collapsed to the ground twitching.

As one, everyone looked at Black Canary.

She shrugged. "Wasn't me."

Keeper shaded his eyes, looking in the direction the attack– for it _was_ an attack– trying to see anyone and got a glimpse of a rapidly approaching black and white form. "Nah, it can't be…" he muttered.

But it was.

"RAVEN!" the newcomer cried.

Raven blinked in surprise, before greeting them back. "Danny Phantom? What are you doing here?"

"I came as fast as I could when I saw you on the news," the halfa explained, looking at the recovering monsters. "These guys don't look like ghosts."

"They're not," Raven explained. "They're demons."

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEE-RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Everyone blinked as another rapidly moving streak of black and white suddenly glomped on to Raven's side, revealing a certain white-haired girl. Danny smirked knowingly at Raven's confused look. Terra began to see red.

"Raven!" Dani Phantom said. "I missed you so much! When I saw how much trouble you were in I just _had_ to help, melting or no melting!"

"This is not happening," Keeper muttered, wishing he had a camera.

"Raven," Terra ground out. "Who is this girl?"

Before Raven could respond, there was a sudden cry as a demon suddenly launched itself at the distracted Titan. It was suddenly intercepted in midair by an energy blast of some kind, much to everyone's surprise, just as both Dani and Danny suddenly let out a breath of mist.

"Why Raven my boy, I didn't know you knew my daughter!"

The two halfas twitched at the familiar voice. "Plasmius!"

"Mr. Plasmius? What are you doing so far from Wisconsin?"

Blink. "Raven, how do you know Plasmius?" Danny asked in surprise.

Plasmius smirked as he landed next to the cloaked boy, who still had Dani more-or-less attached. "Why, Raven used to drop by my mansion every few months and kept me company! He taught me some meditation techniques to help me with my powers, although I'm ashamed to say I haven't used them in quite some time."

Before either Phantom could react to that, two shadows fell over the scene, followed by two women, one landing with a parachute, the other jumping from a hover car. "I'm here to help Raven, what do you- YOU!"

"Miss Go? Miss Possible? You two know each other?"

Then things started getting weird.

"Raven!" a masked girl in green with a long golden braid suddenly glomped on to Raven's other side. "Are you all right?"

"Miss Huntsgirl?"

"Huntsgirl? What are you doing here? Hey Raven, um, how do you know Huntsgirl?" a red dragon said as it suddenly appeared.

"Friend Raven!" a bald kid ridding a dragon with three other teens greeted. "We come to your aid!"

"Don't worry Raven, your pal's here with all the Jackbots, Shen Gong Wu and Heylin evil back up you need!"

"JACK SPICER!!"

"AHH! What are you geeks doing here?"

A weird vaguely insect-like creature suddenly appeared, wearing something with a button on it. "Don't worry Raven! I'm here!"

"Ben?"

"Ooga booga!"

"Raven! We've come to help!"

"Lilo? Stitch?"

"Aw, man! Raven, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Doctor Oliver?"

"What's a Power Ranger doing here?" Keeper muttered. No one noticed.

"All right, we're here! Hey Rae-Rae!"

"Sam? Alex? Clover?"

A small mecha suddenly dropped from the sky. "Tuatha De Danaan, have arrived safely. Will now support primary ally."

"Sergeant Sagara? Is that you?"

"Affirmative. Captain Testarossa sends her regards and asks when you are free for dinner."

"Um…"

In short order arrived the Musumets, Buffy, the Metabreed, some boy with a bandanna, fangs and an umbrella, a billionaire with a golden rod riding a dragon-shaped jet…

"Raven, do you know everyone in the world?" Keeper asked as he watched Terra, Dani, and Huntsgirl (among others) arguing over the oblivious one. "All that's missing is…"

At that moment, a boom tube opened and out stepped…

"Darkseid!" Superman exclaimed as Mr. Bad himself stepped out.

The warlord ignored him, however. "It appears you require assistance, Raven," he intoned.

Justice League jaws dropped.

"It would be appreciated," Raven said evenly, as if he didn't have girls hanging off him. Off to the side, Harley, Wuya, Plasmius, and Gramps were chatting about him.

"My parademons are at your disposal, " Darkseid rumbled. Superman fainted.

Keeper looked at his brother as the reinforcements, with more coming in every minute to greet Raven before they too joined in, went to town on the demons. "Man, you sure get around, bro."

Meanwhile, Foo Dog and Dojo chatted about old times as they tried to revive Superman, who was still passed out…

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**Omake 2: More Where That Came From**

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Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for the demons, what with them being outnumbered by parademons, ghosts, shaolin, superheroes, supervillains, spies, crazy soldiers, martial artists, rich boys and the occasional traitor who happened to know Raven, a portal suddenly opened, and a group of exceedingly good looking fellows with long-ish hair, finely-chiseled good looks and demonic powers showed up and made things even worse.

"All right," Keeper said, twitching as he watched a barefoot, red-robed guy with silver hair and pointed ears teaming up with a white-robed, silver-haired guy with pointed ears. "How do you know Inu-Yasha and Kurama–" a guy in black leather, long silver hair and one wing flew by, followed by a fruity-looking guy with pink hair and a rather flowery-looking scythe "– among others?"

"Oh, they're from my 'Persecuted Half-Humans Support Group'," Raven said as he rested, ostensively from fighting but actually from being used in the girl-tug-of-war.

"Hey, I'm a member of that!" Danny Phantom and Plasmius said. The younger halfa twitched at learning this.

"'Persecuted Half-Humans Support Group'?" Keeper repeated. The twitching got worse.

Raven nodded. "Yes. It's a part of the group that also runs the 'Bishounen Support Hotline', the 'Protection From Yaoi Program', and the '4Kids-Dub Protection Society'."

"'4Kids-Dub Protection Society'?" Keeper said, feeling like a broken record as Seto tried to shush Mokuba, who was saying "Hey, oni-sama, aren't you on those programs?".

A little yellow rat with red and black marks happened my, hugged Raven's leg, and proceeded to demolish the enemy.

"It's a very compassionate group," Raven said.

"Didn't they kill the last Saijans?" Jack Spicer said, not looking beat even though it was already a good fifteen minutes into the fight.

"Our group will neither confirm or deny our connection to the 'Mary-Sue Hunter Corps'."

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**Omake 3: Hermione's Tale**

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"How about that, dear?" Hermione's father said, pointing at the television screen, where a black energy field suddenly divided itself into multiple razors and flew against a four-armed, winged demon. Where the cameraman was is a mystery best left unsolved. "Do they teach you _that _in school?"

"No dad," Hermione breathed tiredly as she barely managed to keep herself from sighing. "They don't teach us anything like that at school. I've told you, those 'magic-users' that the Justice League have are special witches and wizards called Meta-magi. They're kind of like the magical equivalent of metahumans, so of course they can do things we can't."

"Well, can't you take a potion or something?" her dad asked her, watching the blue-cloaked hero attacking the demon. "You know, like some of those heroes out there who get their powers from a chemical accident?"

"No dad," Hermione answered, almost exasperated. When dealing with your parents, the most you can react was 'almost'. "It's something you have to be born with, like being Superman or Martian Manhunter."

"You sure? I mean, what if you're bitten by a radioactive unicorn or something…"

Hermione sighed internally as she wondered why she had a superhero obsessed father. Any time now he was going to be asking her why she couldn't arm herself with potions and magical devices and become a magical vigilante or something like that mythical Batman in Gotham…

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**END!**

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For the record, Hermione is not about to become a magical vigilante out of a Mr. Black fic. No offense to the series and it's writers, it's great reading for when you want to indulge your id and inner Übermensch but it's not just my style…

The result of too much fan fiction and TV while contemplating just who exactly Raven knows…

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.

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**EPILOGUE 2**

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Deep within the deserted library, behind a bookcase sealed against a false wall, down a shaft filled with hardened lava, deep into the bowels of the earth, there lay a chamber. It did not look as such now. Filled with molten rock and frozen by a child, it should have been one solid mass of stone. It would have taken detailed analysis with a seismic sensor and ground-penetrating radar to see the massive central platform shaped like a hand, the enormous stone statues of cloaked and hooded figures.

In the area that, had there been no frozen stone, would have been above the hand, a spot of red heat began to glow, growing patiently.

In time, days later, stone began to burn…


	15. Of Birthdays and Partings

A/N: Book seven isn't changing my plot _one little bit_, although I will probably have to integrate the INSERT PLOT OBJECT NAME HERE , the INSERT PLOT OBJECT NAME HERE , and the INSERT PLOT OBJECT NAME HERE into the story somehow…

And just for the record, none of the Titan's know he's a half-demon. Zatanna and Fate know, and Etrigan and Blood suspect, but that's about it…

Sorry it took so long. College sucks.

On a side note, I would like to ask anyone Gaia Online Players to please join the _**Maho Negima RP **_Guild, as we do not have enough people! Do you realize how boring an RP with only five people at most is?

--

Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 15: Of Birthdays and Partings

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

--

Pamela Iseley , a.k.a. Poison Ivy, took a moment to stretch as she wiped sweat from her green brow. Tending the few plants that made up what passed as Titan's Tower's backyard garden, as well as the simple lawn and trees around the Tower's immediate area wasn't exactly backbreaking work, but it did involve a fair amount of bending.

About a week had passed since the demon invasion of San Francisco. The month was coming to an end, but things had yet to settle back into what passed for routine in a letter-shaped building occupied by independent teenaged superheroes and a couple of adult relatively-recently supervillains. This was mainly because Keeper, Raven's sort-of-brother alternate-version-from-another-universe, who, if not exactly insane, certainly gave the impression of being so, had been dragging the quiet boy all over the place. While this didn't sound like much, it was actually pretty disruptive. They never went anywhere without an entourage.

Ever since the beating Raven had taken for going against Axilano alone– not that he'd had a choice– Terra had hardly let him out of her sight, and thus had reported that he and Keeper– and her– had gone to Disneyland, Sea World, Universal Studios and various malls in three cities. Beast Boy would occasionally tag along for fun, and after hearing she'd missed out going to "The Happiest Place On Earth", so had Harley.

Upon hearing how far away they were going, Robin had tagged along as well, mainly to get away from _his_ entourage. Supergirl and Stargirl had taken to coming to the Tower on some days, hanging out with Terra and Harley, and circling Robin like a pair of blonde sharks. Thus, he was absent from the Tower at every opportunity.

Today Raven had been dragged off to a local café where there were weekly poetry readings. Beast Boy and Harley had declined to join this one, and from the faint cries of childish delight coming from around the building, they had found something else to occupy themselves with. Judging from the fact they'd stolen her hose, Ivy figured it had to do with water. She hoped they were careful not to hurt any of her darling babies.

Licking her parched lips and eyeing the empty lemonade pitcher, Ivy decided it was time for a break. She stood, dusting off her work overalls, and picked up the tray with the glass and empty container Raven had made for her before he'd been dragged off.

The air-conditioning was refreshingly cool as she entered the main living area. Doctor Light and Cyborg were playing some kind of video game on the ridiculously big screen involving designing giant robot to trash the other's giant robot as she headed for the kitchen area. There was another pitcher of lemonade in the refrigerator, with a small strip of masking tape marking it as hers. Gratefully, Ivy helped herself to a couple of glasses. Robin's policies still forbade the three adults from handling and preparing food, and the little runt was too stubborn to change them.

The doorbell rang, followed almost simultaneously by the sound of the door opening and a cheery voice proclaiming "We're back!" through the intercom system. There seemed to be a rippling in the air, a burst of black mist, and suddenly there were a lot more people in the room. While Terra, Raven, and Keeper were fairly incongruous in civilian wear– although Terra had needed to dye her hair brown and wear a pair of glasses to make her blend in, since her identity technically wasn't a secret– Robin hadn't bothered to get changed, having gone in his uniform. Ivy just had to wonder what Batman thought about that. She looked at the clock, realizing it hadn't been that long since they'd left.

"That was fast", she said as she put down her glass next to the pitcher. "Didn't like the food?"

"Place was too angsty," Keeper said as he grabbed a couple of glasses and helped Raven and himself, apparently not caring if Ivy had possibly poisoned the lemonade. "I am _not_ going to let my little brother turn into some kind of wrist-cutting, whiny emo! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Robin was looking around the nearly empty room with a slightly suspicious look. If Ivy didn't know he got like that every time Beast Boy or Terra– and recently, Keeper– got out of his sight long enough to potentially get in trouble, she might have been offended. "Where is everyone?" he said as Terra went to get her own drink.

"Outside," Ivy said, snatching her lemonade from Keeper before he could finish it off. It was _hers_, darn it! "They stole my hose."

"I think they made a slippery slide," Cyborg said, demonstrating he was listening and paying for it when Light ambushed his robots with a barrage of missiles. "NO!"

"YES!" Light crowed. "Iron Giant, fall before Photoneus Nemesis!"

Keeper's eyes lit up. "A slippery slide?" he said. He grabbed Raven and started dragging him. "Finally, a proper classroom for lessons! Come on bro! I'll make you a speedo!"

The two finally teleported out of the room, presumably to get changed and join the slippery sliding, leaving Ivy and Robin to look at each other with the understanding of two people who've known each other for a long time, regardless of animosity. "Enthusiastic, isn't he?"

Robin scowled. "I still don't trust him.," he said. "Too full of himself." He was not talking about Raven.

Sighing, he turned his back on her as he went to check on the others, neither noted the significance.

Terra, meanwhile, was still not over the image of Raven in a speedo.

--

Robin heard the yelling before he actually got there. Threre was a hose running, as well as a wet scrapping. Turning the corner, he raised an eyebrow at what he saw. Beast Boy in black and purple swim trunks wasn't a surprise, and he practically expected Harley to be sliding along on the wet, soapy canvass that they'd found.

He _wasn't_ expecting to see Starfire in her trauma-inducing flesh-tone orange bikini. Nor had he expected to see Supergirl in a white one-piece go sliding by, followed by Stargirl in her uniform sans her boots and gloves. He should have, but he wasn't.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Robin said, managing to make his voice dry despite the sight before him drying his mouth.

"Hey Robin!" Supergirl said as she slid to a halt, Stargirl running into her back. "Wanna join us?"

"Oh yes, do so Robin!" Starfire exclaimed as she slid awkwardly past the two blondes and ended up head over heels. This did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm. "This slippery-slide is very delightful!"

Robin firmly clamped down on his rising blood pressure at the… interesting… view of Starfire's legs. "I don't think so," he managed to say. "Someone's got to be ready to move out in case there's trouble."

"Move it or lose it, bird boy!"

Robin looked behind him and barely stepped out of the way as Keeper, now wearing a pair of black swim trunks, pushed Raven, wearing the swim trunks Robin had lent him, onto the wet, soapy canvas. The paler, purple-haired boy fell lightly, sliding easily for several feet before his momentum ran out and friction took over.

Raven turned over carefully, wary of slipping ion the soap, only to drop on to his back as Keeper slid past him, laughing childishly. "What exactly is this supposed to teach me about emotions?"

"In this exercise, you are to go with the mood and see what happens," Keeper said as he got ready for another run. "Pretend you're enjoying it. Who knows? You might actually enjoy yourself by accident."

Robin and Raven's gazes met as Keeper slid past Beast Boy, who was going the other way as a penguin. You could almost _hear_ the pair of bird-boys' thoughts: _somehow, I don't think that's going to work._

All Robin said, however, was "Well, enjoy. I'll be inside setting up I in case Slade drops in to attack."

"Aww!" came a chorus of female voices as Robin turned to go, as well as a distinct, squeaky giggle. He tried not to think about what Quinn found so funny.

"I'd ditch the shirt if I were you," Robin said as he passed Terra on the way in. "You'll need every edge you can get.

The geokinetic glared at his retreating back as it moved out of sight. And took off the shirt over her swimsuit…

--

"Is everything on schedule?

"No problems so far. We'll have the stuff we need delivered tomorrow morning.

"Excellent. Have the others confirmed?

"They called this morning, they're good to go. Think you can do your part?

"He won't suspect a thing…

--

Up in the Watchtower, Shayera was aware of the looks she was getting. It felt like the week she'd come back all over again. People were darting glances, peering out of the corner of their eye or even staring outright. She was torn between snapping at them and rolling on the floor, laughing her ass off. The latter was looking more appealing by the minute.

"Don't you think this has gone a little too far " Zatanna said in amusement as she sat with Shayera, giggling a little as Gear, Static, and a technician the two had made friends with who happened to be from Dakota all ran into the table they'd been heading for.

Shayera smirked as she dug into her steak. ""Nope," she said, tearing out a chunk from the very rare piece of meat.

The reason for the stares had a little to do with fashion. Specifically, hers. In a space station full of people wearing purple uniforms, body armor, tights, boots, capes, gloves, masks, fishnets, almost-swimsuits and _chainmail_, her brown flats, white socks, plaid skirt, white blouse, violet-maroon vest and tie were _perverse _(even without the blazer). The only ones as weird as here were Question (suit and trench coat), and Vigilante (urban cowboy jeans), and even they tended to stare.

"So," Zatanna said as she ate, "you going tomorrow?"

"Of course," Shayera said. She pitched the next sentence just loud enough to carry without it being obvious. "It's always nice to visit Titans' Tower. By the way, thanks for carding me sword and getting my mace back. Keeper said h– _she_ wasn't sure she could do it."

Zatanna rolled her eyes, but played along. It was a weird game stemming from the party at Titans' Tower and the rest of the reason for the stares. Keeper had been teasingly flirting with Shayera, calling her 'Set-chan' and generally acting like Konoka on a love-chocolate overdose. The Thanagarian, having mellowed out since she rejoined the League, had barely tolerated the affection, as opposed to her old reaction, which would have been to club the boy-turned-girl senseless (besides, since her mace had been turned into a sword, that wasn't really an option). However, something stopped her: the rather petty observation that the attention seemed to be making Green Lantern jealous. From there, it took only a little talk with a highly agreeable Keeper (or had it been the other way around? She wasn't really sure, since she'd managed to get a bit tipsy at that point, which was probably the reason she'd even _considered_ the plan) to keep up the appearance: Shayera was apparently involved with a teenaged girl. Rumors of it drifted in the air, whispered in corners but never really spoken (especially now that she had her mace back). Only the magic-users, who _knew_ Keeper was a guy, thought there was something fishy about it, and only Zatanna knew the truth, having dragged it out of Shayera in exchange for making her sword more storage friendly and managing to magically extract her mace from it.

"No problem," Zatanna said. "It was simple, really. 'Once made, never unmade' sort of thing. My present's ready, and Fate told me he was coming. Everything's set."

Shayera nodded, and the two settled down to eat in silence.

Then, "So, is your girlfriend any good?"

At the 'g' word, a passing Booster Gold snapped his head to stare, stopped watching where he was going, and accidentally struck a seat-back crotch-first.

The two women snickered.

"Too easy," Zatanna said.

--

"Happy Birthday Raven!"

The chorus washed over the surprised half-demon as it rang out from many throats. Ribbons and confetti exploded outwards, while candles burned on a black slab of 90 percent chocolate and 10 percent cake.

Grinning Titans and Leaguers stood before him as the door hissed shut. There was a pile of presents next to the cake. Raven fastened a look at Keeper, who only shrugged unrepentantly and said, "Hey, they asked."

Raven did not like his birthday. It's something that develops when you learn it shares the date of the End of the World. It had nothing to do with emotion. It was a purely intellectual dislike.

_If you even __think_ _about storming off, I will glue your feet to the floor_,Keeper added telepathically. _They went through a lot of trouble to arrange this for you. It would be __very__ rude to refuse to attend. Besides, I doubt the world is going to end so close to the last attempt._

Raven hesitated, considering. That was enough time for Harley and Beast Boy to sweep over and drag him forward. Flashes went off as Light handled the camera.

"Make a wish! Make a wish!" his escorts cried. A wish? He'd heard of this tradition, and doubted it would really be granted, but… what harm could it do?

Taking a breath, Raven blew all the candles out with one low. There were more bright flashes, more cheering, and someone– Cyborg, Raven saw– began cutting the cake.

_Good job,_ Keeper said as he helped Cyborg with the plates. _And the world hasn't ended yet, see?_

People began to congratulate him as he was led to a chair. Beast Boy and Harley, Tara, Starfire, Misses Zatanna and Iseley, Dr. Fate. Supergirl and Stargirl, who'd taken to visiting the Tower after the Incident were present as well, as was Miss Shayera, Apparently Keeper's latest paramour. The Titan had been surprised at that development. Based on what he knew about courting– which was admittedly limited to some stories amongst his mother's collection, as well as some conclusions drawn from other sources– it was remarkably fast. Perhaps it was love at first sight?

Someone handed Raven a cake, which he took in a bit of a daze. There was a fork stuck into it. Hesitantly, he took it and began to eat…

It was a strange notion for Raven, that of people celebrating the day he'd been born. From what he remembered, the Dursleys had never done so, and the people of Azarath…_they_ knew when the world was supposed to end. In the years since his leaving, he never celebrated it, usually waiting it out until it passed, then sighing in relief that the world hadn't ended.

This… this was his first proper birthday party.

--

Tara kept an eye on Raven even as the night progressed, as the cake and pizza and spaghetti and other foods were consumed, as the presents were given– which included Light's solar-powered, rechargeable, dynamo-driven flashlight, a wooden mallet from Harley, a specially-made laptop from Cyborg, a fully loaded utility belt from Robin, and a surprisingly simple handmade wrist charm from Starfire, among other things– and as the party wore on and Cyborg, Beast Boy, Light and Harley brought out the Gamestation.

"I'd keep an eye on him, if I were you," Keeper had said as he wrapped his present– several specially-ordered boxes of chocolate– while she finished odering the pizza. "This is his first birthday party. He might not know how to react."

"Why wouldn't he know?" she'd asked.

"He's _Raven_," Keeper had said pointedly.

And that had been it.

So Tara had watched him, and saw exactly when Raven disappeared in a whirl of blackness. The blonde quickly looked around. Doctor Fate was speaking to Robin, and she wondered what that was about– asking for tips for making more demon-effective weapons, maybe? Cyborg was timing how long it was taking Zatanna to beat Sephiroth. She hadn't seemed to notice either. The left…

She looked around.

Keeper– when had he gone female?– was glomped onto Hawkgirl's arm, simpering in a manner that Tara found quite disturbing, never mind that she knew it was most likely fake. Their eyes met for a moment, and Keeper winked, pointing up.

Up…

It was a short climb up the stairs and onto the roof. Tara gingerly opened the door, stepping out into the cooling afternoon air. Raven was standing near the edge, his cloak fluttering in the breeze. His hood was down, and the wind played with his dark indigo hair as he gazed out across the bay.

Stepping closer, tara could make out a black shape flying through the air. It was Raven's pet bird, she realized. What was it's name again? She honestly didn't know, although she'd often seen it in the Tower with either Raven or Keeper feeding it…

Taking a deep breath, shaking her mind free of distractions, and stepping forward next to him decisively, Tara said, "You know, it's not very nice for the guest of honor to leave his own party like that. People might think you're being ungrateful."

Raven blinked. He had not been surprised by her presence– he'd probably felt her coming– but by the revelation. "I apologize. I didn't know."

"It's all right," Tara said. "The wind whipped at her hair, and she absently put on her goggles to keep it out of her eyes. "They'll understand. But keep it in mind, okay?"

Raven nodded. "Human society is very complex. How do you remember it all, and still manage to deal with your emotions?"

Tara shrugged. "We grow up in it, so we get it. And emotions really aren't much of a problem for us. They basically manage themselves."

Tara watched him out of the corner of her eye, not sure if he would be offended by that. Then again…

Tara took a deep breath, patting the pouches of rocks and dirt that constituted her 'back-up' weapon, and internally winced as she realized what she was doing. This was Raven! He wouldn't hurt her!

…

She took another deep breath and went for it. "Raven?"

"Yes?" Raven asked, holding out his arm as Azar– Azar! His bird was named Azar! Of course!– approached. A plastic cup of water was held in the other.

"What did Axilano mean by 'demon-child'?"

Raven froze, his face setting into what Tara realized was panic. Without his domino-mask on and his hood up, she could see how his eyes widened. He nearly stumbled as Azzar landed on his arm, the water sloshing out of the cup. Woodenly, he raised it to the raven's beak as he whispered urgently under his breath.

The cup was almost empty before Raven finally spoke. "Why do you ask?"

Tara pursed her lips, reminding herself that this was _Raven_. It disturbed her she needed the reminder. "When Keeper answered him back for saying that, I think everyone thought it was directed at him. But afterwards, Axilano was more interested in you. _Was_ he talking about you?"

Raven didn't look at her. "Yes," he said, and you'd have expected it to be whispered, as if to keep her from hearing. Instead, it was loud and clear, and perfectly audible.

Tara let out a breath. "Keeper knows, doesn't he?"

A nod. Azar, sated, flew off, and Raven lowered his arm. "As do Miss Zatanna and Doctor Fate. I believe Mister Blood suspects as well."

"And that's why you have your powers?" Tara asked, pressing on.

"Yes," Raven said, and now his voice did lower. "Do you wish me to leave?"

Tara blinked in surprise. "Wha– _NO!_ Why do you think that?"

"People are seldom comfortable being in the company of a demon, even a half-demon," Raven said. "Axilano was a good example as to why."

"Well, you're not Axilano, you're Raven!" Tara said, slightly indignant. "You're not the same!"

And it was true. He was Raven. He would never be like Axilano.

Raven looked startled a the sudden exclamation, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment."

"Besides, we're more likely to get Keeper to leave. Robin doesn't like him _at all._"

"I doubt his paramour would appreciate it."

Tara looked at him sideways, wondering what he meant by that. He wasn't being serious, was he? _She_ was pretty sure it was all a big act to make Green Lantern jealous– the papers all scribbled with notes and diagrams and arrows and words with the heading 'Plan To Make Green Lantern Jealous' Robin had found while searching Keeper's room was a big help in making up her mind– but now she wondered if Raven knew it too. "Well, he could always move in with her, right?"

"I… suppose."

And that was all there was to say. Silence descended between the two as they looked out towards the horizon.

"I'm sorry I left," Raven said suddenly.

Tara blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"When we were younger. I'm sorry that I left you like that," Raven said. He looked vaguely nervous, which for him meant he was _very _nervous. "Please understand, I had only recently begun traveling on my own and still unused to human contact. My control of my powers was still inconsistent. After the rockslide I caused, I could not in good conscience remain and endanger you. I _had_ to leave."

Tara stared at him. "What are you talking about? _I _was the one who left after the rockslide. And I'm pretty sure I was the one who caused it, not you. I'm the one with the earth-moving powers, remember?"

They both stared at each other.

"We both left, didn't we?" Tara said.

"It would appear so," Raven said thoughtfully. "I went north."

"South," Tara said. "Back the way we came. I figured you wouldn't look in that direction."

"I flew. I thought you would not be able to catch up with me."

The two stared at each other again. Finally, Tara chuckled. "We're a pair of idiots, aren't we?"

Raven smiled thinly. "I suppose we are. Were."

Still chuckling, Tara took his hand. "Come on. Let's go back inside. I think a second slice of cake is in order."

The thin smile still in place, Raven allowed himself to be led back in…

--

The next morning, Terra had to endure a lot of good-natured teasing about the fact that she and Raven had been alone on the roof.

"Terra, call off the rocks already! We're sorry!"

The blonde Titan grinned savagely as Beast Boy and Cyborg ran around the living area, being chased by floating rocks. Iseley and Light both studiously focused on their food, their lips twitching occasionally, while Harley and Starfire giggled at the sight. Robin would sometimes look up from his paper and shake his head.

The door hissed open, and the rocks fell guiltily to the ground as Terra contrived to look innocent. Raven and Keeper entered, the latter momentarily eyeing the fallen rocks that were trying to squeeze under the sofa and raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't really notice, however, having locked on to Raven. She wasn't the only one.

Raven was no longer wearing his crime-fighting uniform. The blue tights, the black boots, the belt, armor and gloves, the cloak and brooch were gone. Instead, the boy was wearing a nondescript pair of jeans and a plain shirt. On his back was a slightly battered backpack.

"Dude, what's with the getup?" Beast Boy said, staring at Raven's very civilian appearance.

Anyone else would have adjusted their backpack, just to give themselves something to do. Raven wasn't the type. "I have to go," he said, by way of explanation.

"Go? Go where?" Robin said as Harley, Light and Iseley all looked at each other.

"Back to school," Raven said. "Term starts in a few weeks, and I have a long way to travel, and a lot of supplies to buy. My classmate Ronald invited me to wait out the remainder of the time with his family."

Keeper idly strolled towards the breakfast table and grabbed a slice of toast, biting into it lazily as everyone blinked at Raven.

"School?" Cyborg said, saying it as if it were a foreign word.

Raven nodded. The term starts on September."

Starfire frowned as everyone continued trying to process the idea of Raven leaving for school. "But that is still many days away! Surely you can remain here until then?"

Raven was already shaking his head. "I can't Starfire. My classmate also invited me to come with him to a sporting event. My ticket has already been bought. It would be rude of me not to arrive after they have gone through so much trouble."

Terra turned and glared at Keeper, who'd taken the opportunity to pick the jam jar and liberally decorate his toast. "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"Not a thing," Keeper said, taking a bite out of the diabetes-inducing sandwich and spreading even more jam on it. "I'll be leaving too, though. It's time for me to move on."

"You're both leaving?" Iseley said, a little _too_ casually.

"Yes, Miss Iseley. But don't worry. I'll be back next year," Raven assured her.

She didn't seem very assured.

It wasn't long before everyone finally realized Raven really _was_ leaving (Keeper too, but no one minded as much). They managed to convince him to stay for breakfast, but given his eating habits, this wasn't long.

The morning breeze caused Robin's cape to ripple as they stood on the Tower's roof. Raven was coaxing Azar into her cage, while Keeper handed Starfire an envelope, asking her to get it to Shayera.

"Take care of yourself Raven," Robin said as he shook the other boy's hand. Raven nodded solemnly.

"It has been… a pleasure, being with you all," he said, letting go.

He barely had time to brace himself as Cyborg, Harley, Beast Boy, Starfire and Doctor Light crowded him in a hug. There was bawling and crying as they said their good byes (Robin's utility belt's supply of tissues was almost depleted). Iseley contented herself with a smile and a quick hug.

Terra kissed him on the cheek.

Raven stared at her blankly in surprise as he held a hand to his cheek. In front of him, the petite blonde was blushing a rather nice shade of red, while those around looked on in surprise and amusement. "What was–"

"It's called a kiss," Keeper said, his lips twitching. "It's what girls do to convey affection." His tone, meanwhile, was very bland.

Raven blinked. "Oh," he said, and everyone barely managed to keep themselves from face-faulting. He didn't know what a kiss was?!

Everyone _did_ face-fault again as Raven leaned forward and kissed Terra on the cheek.

It probably took her a supreme effort of will not to faint on the spot.

"Bro," Keeper said, and he'd _never _called Raven _that_ before in anyone's hearing. "It's what _girls_ do to convey affection. You're not a girl."

"Oh! I apologize, Tara."

"'s okay," Terra said faintly.

And then there were a few more semi-awkward words, a few waves and then…

The two of them were gone, one in a large burst of stygian mist, the other in a streak of black energy, heading resolutely inland east in the blink of an eye.

Terra waited until it was out of sight. Only _then_ did she roll up her eyes and faint.

Robin managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Despite himself, he had on a satisfied grin. "Score one for Terra."

--

**- To be continued...**

--

A/N: Again, sorry it's been a while. College and stuff. Try to guess who Raven's been visiting…

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	16. The Quidditch World Cup, And Other…

A/N: Edited the last chapter. No more visits…

* * *

_In Time To Come…_

Demented laughter echoed through the night, followed closely by the sounds of bodies hitting roofs. A dark form, long, thin shapes seeming to rise straight up from the area of its ears, rolled clumsily, almost getting tangled up in it's cape. It surged to its feet quickly, the blade in its hand slashing at a tall, thin, hideous leering figure, who evaded easily. Red energy surged from the side, and the demonic creature leapt, easily clearing the blast to land on a thin running form and bearing her to the ground. Her long braid was grabbed by thin clawed hands as her hat fell, and a pair of eyes looked fearfully through a domino mask.

The braid was pulled, the girl drawn up, and a hand Freddy Kreuger wished he could have was rested oh so gently against the girl's throat. The man with the cape a hesitated, his sword wavering. The red energy died out.

"So sweet…" the monstrous figure hissed, practically crooning. "So sweet and Jack so hungry…"

* * *

Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 16: The Quidditch World Cup, And Other Events With A Bearing On The Future…

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

* * *

_Now…_

Raven Azar, also known as Harry Potter, walked down the worn track leading to The Burrow, a slightly preoccupied frown on his face. It was a curious name, one that implied some small underground creature. He was unsure whether it was a humorous pun on the fact that 'weasel' could be derived from 'Weasley', or something else.

He hoped he'd gotten the timing right. He'd passed through Salem to pay Inza and Doctor Fate a visit as he'd promised, which had been time consuming but needful. He _had_ promised to visit, after all. It was a pity he hadn't been able to meet with Jeanette, though. He hoped she was all right.

There was a nagging thought appended to this, but since it wasn't very clear, he ignored it.

He came to the wooden gate and looked around. It seemed unchanged since the last time he'd visited two years ago. The boots were still there outside the door. A cat was peering into some bushes. It turned as he opened the gate, its squashed face glaring at him. Raven nodded right back in acknowledgement. He was always careful around Crookshanks.

It is one of the relatively-widespread but little-realized bits of magical wisdom; cats are powerful, unpredictable, dangerous beings. Though many years of research by alchemists and potion masters and other people with too much time on their hands (these people will always inevitably be either rich-fops-with-no-day-jobs Purebloods or Hermione-esque Muggleborns; that they are overachievers is a given) have tried to quantify this and ended up with nothing to show for their trouble but a lack of results, a lot less money than they started with, and dead cats. Any serious magic-user or even just a lowly scholar can tell you cats are special. There is no trace of it, but it's _there_. You can tell.

In kneazles, all this essential cat special-ness is concentrated. It goes beyond being able to tel whether someone is trustworthy or not. Crookshanks was a cat-kneazle cross; more special than one, but not as special as the other. And even a regular cat can tell demons.

Crookshanks was more than regular cat. He was smarter.

These days, he more-or-less tolerated Raven's existence, which was a general improvement from his attitude last year, when it was a toss-up over who he would attack, Raven or Scabbers. He allowed Raven's presence, however, with the clear warning that this would stop if he even _suspected_ him of becoming untrustworthy.

When Raven felt that a sufficient length of time had passed, he slowly opened the gate. Briskly but cautiously, he strode towards the door and, because he always felt that bells were too loud, knocked on the door.

* * *

_Wordenshire…_

Funerals were seldom enjoyable. Even the funeral of a monster, while certainly a cause for joy, is not a joy_ful_ event, mainly because people will be too busy making sure the monster is actually dead (stakes, hammers, garlic and various substances are sometimes involved).

This was not the funeral of a monster.

It was a large building, which in days gone by and even now could still colloquially be called a castle. The air was hushed, the low hum of conversation barely present. Few women were there, and most of those that were could only be called 'elderly' because they had too much money to be merely called 'old'. The men were as old or older, and many moved with the stiffness' and limps of old soldiers injuries. The fashion was either not wearing hair, or wearing a lot of it on your face.

A young man that by modern standards still wasn't allowed the dignity of legally being known as one even though in centuries past he'd already be a candidate for kingship (that is, the target of assassinations, women old enough to be his grandmother and rival armies) was standing at the end of a line. Actually, he _was_ the end of the line. People were offering their condolences, a few quiet words that really didn't mean anything, politely-given offers that were as politely refused. The boy – as he would be injudiciously called now – nodded and spoke with the weary automatic movements of someone in whom grief has been sat upon heavily by tedium, but ready to spring up again as soon as the pressure is lifted. The didn't seem likely to come any time soon.

The line moved and he greeted the ones next in line. "Mr. Dumbledore. Sir Justin. Thank you for coming…"

* * *

"Harry!" Hermione threw her arms around Harry in greeting. Harry stumbled back slightly, before hesitantly raising his arms and awkwardly reciprocating. "Harry! You're back!"

"Hello Hermione," Harry said mildly, slightly belatedly letting go as Hermione stepped back. "How are you? Was Hedwig any trouble?"

Hermione had pretty much gotten used to Harry's idea of small talk. Generally, people asked questions whose answers they could pretty much guess or which would be completely unimportant. Harry, however, only asked things he was genuinely curious of. It wasn't small-talk anymore. It was big talk. Her answer would matter.

"I'm fine, Harry," Hermione said. "And Hedwig was no trouble at all. Although she seemed a little put out when Ron sent his letter by Pig instead of her. She seems to have really missed you."

Harry nodded, apparently having heard nothing to cause concern and visibly filing away her words. "I will make it up to her."

The day followed in a whirlwind of introductions as Harry met Bill and Charlie. There was also a short, impromptu belated birthday party as Ron and Hermione gave him the presents they'd been unable to send him on his birthday. They tried to wheedle details out of him about what he'd been doing during the summer, but Harry had done this dance with them before, and merely said that he'd gone around visiting with people he knew. Beyond that, he was very close-mouthed. It was very frustrating, really.

The next morning found them climbing a hill in the predawn light. It was a bit of a struggle going up, since they were barely awake and the lighting was dim, and Hermione dearly wanted it to be over. Harry was the only exception, climbing the incline easily and willing to lend a hand to anyone who was struggling. Hermione found herself wondering how much walking Harry did to develop such strong leg muscles…

Portkeys, quite frankly, sucked.

Harry helped Mr. Weasley pay Mr. Roberts, and they went to their assigned plot. The unusual and occasionally absurdly lavish tents– turrets and peacocks? Really? – caught Hermione's eyes, and apparently Harry's as well, given how he was looking at everything.

From what they could hear, the topics of conversation were centered around two things: the upcoming match (and by extension the teams involved and other assorted details), and what had happed in America only a few weeks ago. The non-Quidditch conversation ranged from deeply serious (Should the Americans be fined for their lax in enforcing the International Statue of Secrecy?) to the anecdotal ("I heard it all began when three babies were mixed up in an airforce base hospital…") to the… well, predictable ("I was there I tell you, met that Superman bloke myself, said any time I needed anything, all I had to do was wave my wand, look here's my picture with him…", "Demons! Demons are coming for our souls! The end of the world is nigh!!!!", "Damned yanks are making a big fuss over nothing again, over-reacting…", "They're exaggerating things, it was probably all a mass delusion". [Which goes to show that even among wizards, there are idiotic denialists]).

Hermione noticed Harry frowning as they heard all this. "Harry? What is it?" she asked.

"I would have thought that an invasion of demonic forces of the scale that happened this summer would cause more… interest," Harry said, in the tones of one vaguely curious as to why there are no longer any enclosed phone booths.

"Well, stuff like that happens in the States, doesn't it?" Ron said leisurely. "It's not like we ever have to worry about it."

"Didn't someone transfigure all of London a while back?" Harry pointed out. "Morgaine Le Fey, I believe."

Ron had no answer to that.

That night, zany hi-jinx ensued.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Beast Boy cried as he and Harley ran into the living room, waving a letter in the air. "Raven sent mail!"

"GIVE IT HERE!"

Beast Boy eeped and disappeared into a flea as Terra dove for the innocuous envelope with a desperate ferocity usually reserved for live grenades threatening a bus full of nuns and babies. Envelope confetti flew in the air.

"Such self-restraint," Poison Ivy said dryly from where she was watering a potted plant. There were more of them inside now, since she'd joined. Robin made sure to check all of them for genetic mutations and other tricks.

Terra paused to give her a dirty look before turning back to read the letter.

Robin had just finished sweeping the confetti from around Terra when the blonde girl gave a strangled cry of anguish, and a vibration reverberated through the tower. "Terra! Earthquake zone, remember!?!"

"Letter!" Terra cried, rushing past him to head for the elevator. "I need to write a letter!"

Robin sighed she passed him by and he plucked the letter out of thin air, leaning the broom against a counter. He read it.

_To the Teen Titans,_

_Please be advised that you will not be able to communicate with me after September the 1__st__ by conventional means. All future correspondence must be sent to the Post Office box listed at the end of this letter. I will only be able to check it once a week at most…_

Robin read the letter then checked the calendar, even though he knew what he'd see. "Someone better tell Terra she still has a few days to talk to Raven on the T-com before she blows all the petty cash on a lot of stamps."

* * *

"Cyril?" the girl said as she entered the large, empty London townhouse. "Are you all right?"

She found him kneeling next to an old steamer trunk in the study. The name 'Percy Sheldrake' was written in faded white paint on the trunk's lid, and she felt her heart clench. The old man's death hadn't even been a fortnight ago, and still rubbed raw on those who knew him. What must it be like for the one grandson he left behind?

Cyril glanced up at her approach, but didn't say anything. He was still dressed in the suit he'd worn to the funeral days ago. Somehow, the smell didn't seem that important. A copy of a police report lay next to him, some parts heavily underlined or encircled with pencil.

A key was in his hand. She watched as he inserted it into the trunk's lock, pushing open the lid. He reached inside. There was the click of metal…

* * *

Somewhere, the daughter of Cain slept in her rags, and dreamed in flashes of moving limbs…

* * *

**- To be continued...**

* * *

A/N: Be glad I got around to making a chapter at all.

On writing this chapter, I wondered what Professor Dumbledore _wasn't_ doing at the Quidditch World Cup…

Do not speak to me of what is happening in DC comics canon. It might make sense in a few years, but it certainly not making a whole lot of sense now. And Infinite Crisis seemed so promising, too…

Of course, Green Lantern still makes sense. It has to, it's a cop book. But the rest…

I like Stephanie Brown. Really I do. But they had no right making her Batgirl. That spot either belongs to Barbara Gordon, or _**CASSANDRA CAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **_NONE OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* * *

**Omake by ****bissek**

* * *

Pamela Iseley looked at the flower in her hand and concentrated. The idea had come to her while watching part of the Titan's seemingly bottomless anime supply with the rest of the tower residents. While the others in the group mainly focused on the main hero's confrontation with the villain whose powers made him like Bane on steroids (At least, more steroids than usual), her attention had been on one of the secondary heroes. As she had looked into the eyes of the boy on the screen - eyes that matched her eye color exactly, just as their hair color matched, she realized they had a great deal in common.

Both of them were master thieves, who ended up going to the other side of the law after a few close calls too many (Fortunately, none of hers had been nearly fatal). And both of them achieved their goals through the use of plant life. Oh, the things she could have done in the old days if she had had some death trees or bloodsucker plants...

Already she had figured out how to do the simplest of his techniques. Now, she was working on a more complicated one. She had yet to get it working, but she was sure that she could pull it off…

Beast Boy and Cyborg walked by and noticed Ivy trying once again to create the Rose Petal Waltz Configuration. Beast Boy looked at Cyborg and asked, "Are you sure that letting her see Yu Yu Hakusho was a good idea?"

* * *

**End!**

* * *

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	17. Pieces in Place

A/N: It is my desire to write something so good I get put on the TvTropes Crowning Moment of Awesome for fanfics (tvtropes. org/ pmwiki/ pmwiki . php/ CrowningMoment/ FanFic) page. Just a hint, you know…

* * *

Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 17: Pieces in Place

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans.

* * *

It was very difficult, getting to King's Cross station this year. With the emergency call from Amos Diggory keeping Mr. Weasley at the office, Mrs. Weasley not knowing how to drive the Ford Anglia and the added difficulty of Harry and Hermione's presence, they had needed to call for three Muggle taxis, which had presented difficulties, not the least of which was their lack of experience with owl and raven transport. After the initial difficulty of loading, however, the ride was relatively peaceful. The taxi driver had turned on the radio, and didn't seem to be one of those who liked to talk to his passengers– perhaps he wasn't in the mood. Harry rode in the front seat, which gave Hermione a twang, though she couldn't exactly say why.

_"…break-in at 221b Baker street, the famous home of equally famous Sherlock Holmes, whom many consider to be the greatest detective of all time," _ the radio said. _"The police say nothing was stolen, though given the extent of the damage to the interior, they admit that vandalism was likely the primary motive. London's very own superheroine Argent was unavailable for comment, though reliable informants have stated that she has spoken with police and has offered her assistance. In Parliament…"_

In the backseat, sitting between Ron and Hermione, Ginny was idly playing with a large blue stone hanging from a fine chain around her neck. Hermione had asked her about it a few days ago, and she'd said it was a present from Bill for her birthday. She looked troubled now, but Hermione attributed that to nerves and Harry's proximity. It almost always was. It was quite understandable, really. Harry _was_ good looking, and he _had_ defeated the Dark Lord, and the strange emotional distance he simultaneously maintained and tried to overcome in his dealings with people was strangely charming.

His yearly disappearances made him seem mysterious– which he was; not even Ron and Hermione knew where he actually went or did during the summer– and wild theories abound as to what he did. The most popular ones included his being the demigod son of Hades who had to go train with the centaur Chiron at some camp in Long Island, New York; that he went around in a recreational vehicle with a grizzled old Auror and had fought evil using a magic watch that allowed him to turn into dragons, trolls, giants, vampires, dementors and grindylows; that he was actually one of the Jonas brothers; that he was one of Bruce Wayne's illegitimate children by a wood nymph, spawned from one of the billionaire's trips to Europe; that he was actually an immortal special agent of MI6; and that he was actually a half-demon superhero, though that one was only told for laughs, since it was too ridiculous to actually be true. Hermione couldn't understand what Colin Creevey was thinking starting that rumor.

She could, however, understand perfectly well why Ginny found him distracting.

* * *

"Are you reading a muggle newspaper?" Ron asked Harry after about five minutes of staring at a picture that was inexplicably not moving. Conversation with Hermione and Ginny had died off, and even Neville's appearance hadn't really revived it.

"Yes," was Harry's slightly distracted answer, apparently very intent on the international section.

"Why?" Ron asked, sounding perplexed. What was going on in the muggle world that was so interesting Harry had to read about it.

"It helps me keep track of trouble spots I shouldn't go to in the summer," Harry said mildly. He had a tendency to go though different attitudes like trends, Ron noticed. Last year's trend had been sarcasm, and though it still sometimes came out, that didn't seem to be the thing this year. "Tensions are running higher than usual between Kaznia and Markovia again, for example. Then again, it almost always is. One would think threats against all human existence would provoke greater solidarity, but apparently it loses its effect the fifth time or so."

"Where?" Ron said.

"They're small states in continental Europe," Harry explained. "Don't you remember? A while back, an immortal supporter of Grindelwald attempted a hostile takeover of it so as to gain control of the space station Kaznia was helping build in order to use it as a space-based weapon of mass destruction."

Ron stared. "What?"

Hermione made a disgusted sound. "Really Ron, there's more going on in the world than just what happens among wizards. For example, one of the superheroes who was instrumental in repelling the invasion in San Francisco, the Raven, has apparently disappeared."

That made Harry get out from behind his newspaper, frowning at Hermione. At least, as close to a frown as he ever got. "That made the news here?" he said.

Hermione shook her head. "My dad read it off the internet. He's… something of a fan. "

"I see…" Harry said, before returning to his newspaper. Silence descended.

Ron and Neville looked at each other. "So, Neville, what did you think of the Quidditch Cup?" Ron asked brightly.

"Gran didn't want to go," Neville said. "Wouldn't buy tickets…"

* * *

_Meanwhile, somewhere in __London__…_

Beryl Hutchinson stalked through the townhouse, her feet coming down like the ground had personally offended her. Several rather haphazard sandwiches lay on a plate in her hands many in danger of either falling off, disintegrating, or both.

The door was still open, letting out the smell of musty old books and papers, several days worth of inattention to hygiene, and at least two other plates worth of putrefying food. The ill humor on the girl's face deepened.

"This isn't healthy, Cyril," she said as she stomped in, putting down the plate of food with a heavy thump on a bare space. There weren't a lot of those, books, loose papers and a few old relics taking up most available space. "And I'm not your bloody maid servant! Next time you want to eat, you make your own bloody sandwiches or you can stare! See if I care!"

The teenaged boy, a year or so older than Beryl, made a non-committal sound, eyes intent on some old newspaper clipping in an old scrapbook that were a hair away from falling apart. He was wearing latex gloves at least, so that meant he'd learned his lesson about handling such old papers with his bare skin. Not that she cared. An old sword, its leather scabbard dull but solid, lay on the desk next to Cyril's elbow, next to some kind of strange mechanism, which looked vaguely like it was meant to be strapped on the forearm.

She made a face as she stared at the wasted food like it personally offended her, though she held back the biting diatribe the sight of it brought forth in her. Bloody ponce probably thought food grew in shops! "You need to get out, Cyr," she said, repeating herself. "This isn't healthy. You got anything call from the firm today, and you're running out of food in the pantry."

"Let Mrs. Dodds take care of it," he muttered, sounding pre-occupied. "That's her job…"

"She _left_, you idiot," Beryl reminded him. "Most of the staff did, remember? You're all alone in this house. Bloody hell, I'm probably the only who'd notice if you died tonight."

"I'm not going to die," Cyril said, a slight eeriness entering his voice, as it always did when his attention left the piles of old papers, reports, and hand-written old journals of his grandfather's. "I haven't found him yet, Beryl. He killed grandfather. The demon…"

Beryl reminded herself it wasn't a god idea to attack the potentially insane. Well, 'eccentric', anyway. He was too rich to be just 'insane'. "You're the only one who believes in this 'demon', Cyr. How your grandpa died was tragic, but it wasn't a demon–"

"It WAS, Beryl!" Cyril snapped, which was the most life Beryl had seen in him in days. "It was a demon, and it killed grandfather! I SAW it! It was real!"

Beryl pursed her lips. It wouldn't help her cause to convince him to start acting normally again to accuse him of being crazy. She'd always felt that was the mistake people in the books she read made, when confronted by unusual behavior. Now though, she was feeling a lot more sympathetic towards them…

"Eat these, this time," she snapped as she picked up the rotten sandwiches to bring them down to the kitchen, stomping off without another word. A whiff of piss filled the hallway outside, and she glanced at the open door to the privy at the end of the hall. She wagered that was as far as he went these days…

* * *

"I still don't quite understand the point of the whole thing," Harry said thoughtfully as he, the twins, Ron, Neville and Hermione set off towards Gryffindor Tower, the identical siblings still debating the ways Dumbledore might stop those under seventeen from entering the tournament. Harry's statement gave a relieved Hermione something else to listen to. "Exactly how is such a competition supposed to foster ties between the schools? One would suppose it is more likely to foster competitiveness and resentment upon a school's loss because of another school, unless of course the schools are supposed to work in concert with each other against some sort of powerful adversary, and the resulting fatalities were intended to untie the participating schools in grief…"

"I don't think it works that way," Hermione said, interrupting Harry's rather morbid train of thought, though she couldn't help agreeing with him– but not about the fatalities.

Harry's frown deepened. "Is this going to fall under the category of 'traditions' as well? Of performing certain actions for no other reason and justification than that they were done before according to some schedule?"

"Probably," Hermione said. "It's as good a way of thinking it as any."

Harry shook his head. "I will never understand people."

There was a slight pause in his speech as he said the last word that made Hermione think he'd wanted to say something else. 'Idiots', perhaps.

"Wouldn't you want to join, Harry?" Fred asked as they made either way up a staircase,.

Harry shrugged, the movement slightly exaggerated and deliberate, obviously thought out rather than instinctive, like the way one hand had grabbed Neville and pulled him up as he was about to sink into a trick step, for instance. "I see no reason to put myself in danger."

"Are you sure you're Gryffindor?" George said, half-joking. It baffled most of their house, the way Harry restrained himself so much. Hermione knew he was brave. She'd been with him as they faced Dementors last year, and he'd lasted longer than she had. She supposed he probably had his own standard or definition of bravery.

All Harry said, however, was, "This is the House the Sorting Hat chose for me, George."

"And me," Hermione couldn't help herself from saying.

"And me," Neville's quieter voice added.

"Though…" Harry said slowly. "That _could_ imply that the Sorting Hat was a precedent of making mistakes." A beat. "But I doubt it."

Fred narrowed his eyes at him. "Do you just make a joke?"

"Yes," Harry said blandly. "Was it effective?"

"Could use some work, mate…"

"Duly noted."

* * *

Raven listened as he heard his roommate's breathing soften, relaxing into the evenness of sleep. He lay quietly on his bed for what he felt was a reasonable length of time, before quietly stepping out of bed. In the darkness, he reached for his backpack, which he still kept with him even though he had a trunk to keep thing in now, and drew out the flat, square box that held his meditation mirror.

He looked at it in the gloom in the midst of the drawn curtains of his four poster bed. About the size of his two hands put together side by side, it was dark and dull with no light to reflect, lying on a slight indentation in the box. The reflective surface was perfectly round, the frame around it curved and simple but elegantly carved. With a small surge of power, he levitated it out of its recess, drawing the detachable handle from its own indentation to the side and attaching it.

More than an aide to meditation, it was a portal to his own mind, his very soul. The mechanics behind it weren't something Raven was familiar with, nor did he care to. It was enough for him that it worked. Recently, he'd been using it for a purpose his mother– Azar– his _mother_ might not have thought of when she'd first given it to him so that he could see the faces of his own inner demons. Clearing his mind, something that still took a fair amount of effort, even after all these years, he began the exercise…

A person might be forgiven for making unkind comments about 'empty minds' had they ever entered the place Raven soon found himself in while knowing full well where and what it was. He personally couldn't see the problem. A seemingly endless dark space that might or might not be hanging among the stars, it was occupied by uncountable numbers of floating rocks of indeterminate sizes and distances, though many in sight seemed liked together by seemingly natural rock bridges.

Once upon a time, a dark, skeletal tree or two would have been the only other features immediately visible upon arrival, besides all the various rocks, but now two things immediately sprang to the attention of the eye. One was a collection of containers, flat metal packing cases of the custom-made sort mostly, though there were a few cardboard boxes as well. A black laptop with pale-blue highlights sat on top of a pile that was the right height to use as a table, connected to a black box tat gave a constant whirring sound. The perpetual motion, heat dampening and friction negation spells Keeper had kindly applied to the miniature generator Cyborg had built insured his laptop would never run out of power, at least as long as he remember to plug it in occasionally. Keeper had said he'd be able to use it at Hogwarts, promising that the environment's concentrated magic wouldn't affect it– he'd talked about how he'd made points for he magic to 'ground' and 'earth' itself along the laptop's casing, thus preventing interference. Raven hadn't really understood the technical details. Still, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to bring it out, since it would draw attention. After all, no one else had one.

The metal case lying on the ground next to it was Raven's destination, but he was sidetracked by the cloaked figure standing close to the assemblage of gear, its garment's bright– relative to its surroundings anyway– colors making it stand out in Raven's eyes. _It_, not _he_.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the pink– well, not _pink_ exactly, but closer to that color than to violet– cloaked figure standing next to his belongings.

"What are you going to do if the mirror ever breaks?" the brightly cloaked figure said, looking at the items Raven was storing, its voice happy, even chirpy. "How are you _ever_ going to get your stuff out of here?"

"Such speculation would be pointless," Raven said brusquely. He reached toward the case on the ground next to wear the emoticon was standing. Keeper had suggested the word once, when Raven had brought him here, and lacking a more convenient way of referring to the representations of his emotions. For a moment, Raven wondered where his brother was. So strange, to think he had family– living family– that didn't come from the infernal pits. It was a technicality, of course, but still…

Around them, the world seemed to shiver, flickering some unidentifiable color.

"That's been happening a lot lately," the emoticon commented brightly. "Something the matter?"

"Nothing," Raven said brusquely, stiffening a bit at the accusation. "Leave me please. I am currently not patient enough to deal with you right now."

The emoticon laughed. "Well, since you asked so nicely…" it said, before fading away.

Alone now, or as close to it as he was likely to get in this place, Raven knelt down, opening the case. The uniform Robin had made for him– one of them– as well as the utility belt the Boy Wonder had given him on his birthday– creatively enhanced by Keeper– lay within it. It was surprisingly comfortable, given its appearance and purpose. Raven supposed Robin would know how to make such a uniform.

For a moment, Raven hesitated. He'd never intended to be a 'superhero', as the popular media referred to such people. Most of his existence had been devoted to keeping his powers under control. His tenure at Hogwarts, despite his social contact, had primarily been a method for more of the same. But still…

It was the social contact, his brother had told him. As he'd put it, you can't be in the company of people without desiring their continued company, or at least their existence. And he'd wanted to help people…

He hadn't told anyone else about his intention to do this. It had been a vague notion, an idle thought. Keeper would have said it was because of his caring nature. Even in his head– in more ways than one– Raven wasn't sure if his brother would be joking or not if he said it.

Raven looked down at the uniform, the armor. Than he began to get changed…

* * *

_Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. _

If one were to think about it, it wasn't so surprising. In a world where demigods and physical gods actually walked– though in most cases they flew– the Earth, it was becoming fairly acceptable to assume that sound you heard was the precursor to having some being with powers beyond that of mere mortals drop on you to ruin your night of stealing cars. Who wouldn't believe every little noise and color was an omen? Who wouldn't think 'maybe I'll run away screaming like a baby'?

It probably said something that despite this, people still went out of their way to steal from, murder and defraud their fellow man. _What_ it said, however, was up for debate.

Take 'Rickety' Johnny. Several stints in juvenile prison, twice tried as an adult, an arrest by a superhero when he was young, present in all the recent alien invasions and what not, and he still found it in himself to lurk in dark alleys, looking for easy marks. To be fair, he'd gotten good at this. He hadn't been caught yet, not by the Bobbies, and not by that freaky goth girl this city had. That was a kind of accomplishment, it could be supposed.

The streak ended that night.

All he heard was a sound at first, one that sounded suspiciously like an– well, it sounded suspicious, and promising. It always helped catching people with their pants down, as they say. Sometimes they didn't call the Bobbies. He went to check it out, his knife ready, already thinking of where he'd run to.

There as a moment of silence.

The following scream could be heard for blocks around. When, eventually, the authorities were called, they found a dead Johnny, neck town open and four parallel tears on his face, and a dead hooker who'd been disemboweled, her left eyeball removed…

* * *

Raven teleported above the Leaky Cauldron. It was a familiar place, one he could accurately reach even from so far as Hogwarts. The air was cold, though no rain fell here. He floated in the empty air for a moment, than soared into the night sky, trying to keep out of sight. He'd have worn his invisibility cloak, but he was concerned about the heirloom being damaged.

He took out his communicator, opening the device. Unlike his laptop, the power source of the item in his hand was a military-grade power cell, similar to the ones used in the Justice League's earpieces. Small but powerful, it would need several week before recharging, which was a reason it was so commonly used by those such as himself– and, unfortunately, their opposite numbers.

Activating the device, Raven set it to begin scanning emergency bands as he'd seen the other Titans do. They usually weren't needed when it came to minor incidents, but Robin had regularly patrolled the city following just such distress codes. He'd said it helped him maintain perspective.

Synchronizing it with his earpiece, one of Robin's parting gifts, he listened to the report about two people found dead at White Chapel. He paused briefly, considering. He should check that out, shouldn't he? At best, it would allow him to familiarize himself with the city's various environs. And perhaps he'd be able to assist…

A few teleports and a brief consultation of his London City map eventually lead him towards the area he sought. Already the site was occupied, with an ambulance, a few of the local police cars, and at least one television truck. Dozens of officers were in the area, some keeping back the crowd that had, even in the late hour, begun to assemble. Others were examining the scene of the crime, placing samples in bags and taking photographs. One of them was speaking o a teenaged girl. She was obviously a superhero.

Raven wondered what it was about– well– _other_ superheroes that predisposed them towards impractical, revealing clothing that offered little in the way of physical protection. There was some excuse for some. Beast Boy's clothes shifted when he changed forms, so protective fabrics offered no aid when it was faster to change into something that would not be harmed. The likes of Supergirl and Starfire was more durable than most available protective gear, and so they did not require them. But Stargirl? Terra? Hawkgirl? Vigilante? Static? It was very strange.

The girl, pale skinned and dark-haired except for a clump of bright red forelocks, wore a shoulder-less black vinyl outfit with rather… inflated skirts, and red and black striped stockings along with her gloves. It was an eye-catching ensemble, certainly. Raven wondered how deliberately it had been chosen to cater to and therefore affect so many fetishes at once. It certainly would make a diverse selection of people pause long enough to be incapacitated or for non-lethal force to be applied.

She was talking to a suited officer, probably the detective or whatever the local equivalent ranks were– Raven wasn't really versed in such things– with a familiarity that said they'd done this before. That made it more than likely the girl was Argent, London's most recent protector. Raven looked down at his belt, still unfamiliar with the compartments. It took him to find the listening device he was looking for. It was a simple matter to teleport it close enough to the two of them to listen.

"–ird this month, Destrale," Argent said, sounding queasy. "_Please_ tell me your people found something this time."

The detective– Destrale?– shook his head. "Still a bit too early, but the MO's clearly the same. Whore with body parts removed, not too clean about it. Pretty messy knife-work. Guy's a new one on us, though. Looks like the poor bugger was just unlucky enough to walk in on… whoever it was."

"What did that to his face?" Argent asked. "Some kind of weird Chinese claw weapon? You see those sometimes…"

A feeling of unease crept over Raven, and he stiffened, eyes darting behind his domino mask. A normal person would have assumed it was a case of nerves and ignored it. Raven wasn't a normal person. He did not get 'nerves'.

Something was out there. And if he could feel it, it wasn't human.

On a distant rooftop, a shadow's shape changed. Raven's eyes snapped toward it and he hesitantly began pressing the nearly undetectable controls on the corner of his mask, cycling through the rangefinder, infrared heat, among other settings, before settling on the night-vision feature in time to see _something_ scurry over the distant rooftop.

He was darting towards that rooftop before he knew it, summoning the listening device back to himself. Behind him, he could hear the surprised cries of police officers, as well as one or two shots of panic fire sent into the air where he'd passed.

There was nothing to be seen when he finally arrived, nothing there except for a lingering sensation that set him on edge.

A demon had been standing here.

It occurred to Raven that perhaps being found in a suspicious location so close to where two people had been found dead was not the best way to begin his… _activities_ in London. Already, he saw a bright red, almost pink, construct of energy carrying Argent towards him. He teleported away, wondering if perhaps he should start small. What had Supergirl told him about cats stuck in trees…?

* * *

The following day, still Harry seemed tired at breakfast. Hermione supposed the rain had kept him up, though she'd always figured him to be the sort to be able to sleep through anything. "Harry? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Hermione," Harry said, and though his voice was as level and controlled as ever, it had a weary edge. "I slept badly, that's all."

Hermione kept an eye on him during Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. He seemed all right, though a bit more lethargic than usual. She asked Ron to keep an eye on him during Divination while she was at Arithmancy. When she met up with them again, Harry was lecturing Ron about making inappropriate puns. Ron gave her a long-suffering look when she arrived, as if to say, "Look at what I'm putting up with for our friendship".

They were just heading towards dinner when Malfoy showed up to cause trouble. The article he read had Ron shaking in rage. Then he said something that, well…

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house—if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Ron was shaking with fury, and Hermione was expecting to need to restrain him. She was so worried she didn't realize Harry had gone still.

"Leave his mother out of this, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. It was like the hiss of a drawn blade.

In another place and time, like a dark alley, this might have produced the right reaction, which was to make the listener know that violence and pain was imminent. But in the bright, crowded confines of Hogwarts, full of children and immaturity and bravado, the warning was left unheeded, especially since it had come from a thin, slightly creepy boy who didn't look like anyone capable of going through with the promised violence.

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

Ron tried to launch himself at Malfoy, but he was too slow. Before he'd taken the first movement forward, Harry and Malfoy already had wands drawn, both aimed at the other at pointblank range. Everyone in the Entrance Hall grew quiet.

"Go on then, Potter," Malfoy said, his voice filling the stillness. "Let's settle this."

Standing behind him, Hermione swallowed. She didn't know what was going on… but she could tell it wasn't what it appeared. "Harry…" she heard her voice pleading. Even Ron had stopped, anger suddenly quenched by surprise.

Methodically, Harry stepped back, fastidiously putting his wand back in his robes. His face didn't alter a hair, but he gave the air of literally looking down at Malfoy. "No," he said quietly. "You're not worth anger." He turned.

"Don't turn your back on me!" Malfoy cried, there was a bang, and a spell flew by the side of Harry's head, and everything became confused…

All everyone remembered about the incident was how Malfoy got turned into a ferret. Hermione wondered how many realized it was the first time Harry had appeared to have gotten legitimately _angry_…

* * *

Cyril Sheldrake stared at the pictures from the police report the night before. He hadn't needed some sort of computer wizardry to access them why would he, when some enterprising soul had sold the things to a tabloid. They were grisly things, more for what they wouldn't show but whispered of anyway, but he stared at them regardless. He read of the other murders over the past month, but those had been fairly quiet, with little fanfare, so to speak. But this… London loved serial killers. Tabloids especially loved them. After all, one practically created the other, though which was which was debatable.

But history lesson aside, it was the pictures that mattered. He stared at them, his fist tightening on the old sword on his lap. It was here. The demon was here. In this city.

He looked behind him, at the old clothes and belts and chainmail and metal plates scattered all over his room. He had to get ready. There were things he needed to do…

* * *

_…_

_…_

_… !_

_Reach Infiltrator Da online…_

_Beginning scan for–_

_Warning! Internal damage detec730tk#%&*%... !_

_Core Programming incomplete! Attempting reconstruction…!_

_Compatible Sentient Detected…_

_Marking for Infiltration…_

_Infiltration Commenced…_

* * *

** - To be continued...**

* * *

A/N: Yeah, it's a bit bland. I promise action in the next chapter, I swear.

Trying to differentiate between 'Harry' and 'Raven'. 'Harry' is how other people think of him, while 'Raven' is how he refers to himself.

Raven's gear is a sort of 'Robin-lite' ensemble. Will show more of it soon.

It should be known that I am a member of the cult of Cassandra Cain, THE ONE WHO IS ALL!!!!!!

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	18. Presenting, MISS MANNERS!

A/N: My titles are getting wyrd. Like weird, but with extra strangeness and bad spelling…

All my formatting's been messed up. Damn them.

........................................

Harry Potter: Raven

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 18: Sturm and Drang, Beautiful Wands, And Other Things of Interest, Including, But Not Limited To, Incendiary Drinking Cups

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Teen Titans. As the Internet as my witness, I will not rest until I make it into as many pages of TV Tropes as possible!!!!!!!

Without actually putting myself there, of course.

........................................

Two months is a long time. A lot of things could happen over that period. The Justice League, for example could put away over a three hundred petty criminals, prevent or do damage control for at least seven natural disasters, put out at least twelve literal fires, save thousands of lives, engage/battle at least twenty supervillains (more if the villains were feeling group-y), be on the newspapers for at least a quarter of the time, and make countless little boys and girls very happy by rescuing their little kitties that had gotten stuck up in trees (the Question will also have added 39.5 new aspects to his conspiracy theory, one of which will be that PETA and other animal-oriented groups are subliminally, chemically programming kittens to run up and get stuck in trees for a secret, sinister purpose using the chemicals in the inks of pet food labels).

The Teen Titans can order 134 pizzas, visit Disneyland at least 5 times, be pranked by Beast Boy a minimum of 17 times, by Harley Quinn at least 21, have the Tower attacked at least seven times by people and/or groups they don't know, at least twice by people they _do_ know, be visited countless times by Supergirl and Stargirl, at least four 'casual' visits by Superman and S.T.R.I.P.E. that has Robin sweating and later reaching for the aspirin, a lesser number of casual visits by Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Static, Gear and a few of the more social Leaguers, and least 46 letters from Terra to Raven (at Ivy's insistence, Terra has switched to rag-pulp paper, which feels nicer and kills fewer trees).

London's newest serial killer can claim at least 23 more lives that the police know of, and an uncertain but large number that they do not. He can cause people to each lose the cumulative equivalent of at least four days of sleep. There were at least eighteen nervous break-downs relatable to him. The police gains twelve new officers, and lose twenty seven. Those are the ones who resigned. About as many are killed in action, gutted, dismembered, and in a few instances apparently eaten. This is not counting the number who've died due to more mundane reasons.

Yes, a lot can happen in two months.

........................................

_One month, three weeks, and about 5 days ago…_

Two friends, Jo and Bob, were trying to steal a car. Even with today's modern security systems, that was still possible. After all, it's not like they all had alarms tuned to a frequency Superman could hear (he'd kindly asked the makers not to put that one of the market, since not only would it be near-useless for everyone else, he'd practically go deaf). So, given time, technique, experience, and the right tools, virtually any car can be broken into without setting off alarms. Alarms, after all, were loud, distinctive things that instantly drew attention to the fact someone was trying to steal something that wasn't theirs, and would send people running to either intervene, as was their civic duty, to call the authorities, which was also their civic duty, or to try and join in.

Bob broke the window of the old but still profitable car with a practiced strike of his elbow, letting the alarm blare as it would until Jo had managed to pop open a panel and mess around with a few things. That fact they had fifteen minutes to do so probably said some things. Whether it was a critique of where the car was parked, the quality humanity or the annoying nature of car alarms is a judgment call.

They weren't worried about police. They knew this neighborhood, knew how to work quickly, and if they happened to draw the attention of the little red and black little tart who called herself a superhero, let her! They had GUNS, man, they weren't scared of any little girls who looked like she should be working the docks!

Almost finished with hotwiring the engine– whose ever car this had been, they had unsportingly _not_ left the keys tucked up in the driver's side shade flaps– Bob was impatiently tapping the roof of the car, supposedly on lookout, while Jo messed with the wiring when there was a rather polite cough behind them. Bob though he imagined it, until it happened again, louder.

Bob swore, reaching for his gun awkwardly as Jo bumped his head while trying to scramble to his feet. He wondered how the little tart had sneaked up on them. From what he'd heard from a few blokes that had gotten busted, she liked to announce herself, and a few near-misses of their own had taught them that the red stuff she made glowed like neon and wasn't exactly subtle.

Whoever it was behind them, it wasn't who they were expecting. He was wearing a blanket on his head, for one thing, like those ringy-rat things from those movies a few years ago.

In a soft, polite voice, the person under the blanket said, "Excuse me, but are you attempting to steal this car, or are you merely having some sort of engine trouble? I'd like to be sure, so as not to make a mistake."

Bob and Jo _should _have looked at each other in confusion. After all, this was the narratively acceptable thing to do. As it was however, Bob just got pissed, raising his gun threateningly. "Back off, wanker," he said. "Get out of here, before I blow your brains out!"

The person under the blanket tilted their head. "Ah," he said. "Thank you for clarifying."

And then there was only darkness and screaming…

Officer Cleese found them later, tied to a light-post, sleeping like babies. He read the folded note tucked into one of their breast pockets with bemusement. It included, after a concise and conveniently numbered listing of what offenses the two might have committed, an apology for not remaining to give a police report in person, as well as possibly breaking the law with vigilante activity. Officer Cleese looked at the two tied up would-be carnappers (according to the note). Then he looked at the gun floating in midair, next to another note admonishing it not be touched by anyone except a certified crime-scene technician.

Officer Cleese sighed, and began to think of how he'd write this in his report as he radioed in that there seemed to be a new superhero running around.

A very polite one, apparently.

........................................

There was something wrong with her eyes.

That was the only conclusion Ginny could come to as she blinked, trying to make the problem go away as if it were sleep gunk. It didn't seem serious, just annoying. She wondered if it was related to those weird clicking noises she sometimes heard.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked her as she rubbed her eyes again, despite knowing she shouldn't.

"I'm fine," Ginny lied. "My eyes are just a little blurry, that's all."

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" Harry asked, sounding concerned and bone tired.

Ginny gave him a reproving look. "You're one to talk. Did you get any sleep at all last night?"

"Yes," Harry said simply.

"You're being literal," Ginny accused him.

"Yes."

"Pass the bacon, will you?" Ron asked. He paused to look at Harry. "Harry, did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Yes."

"Here you go, Ron," Hermione said, handing it over. She looked at Harry and frowned. "Harry, have you been getting enough sleep?"

Harry turned to her, his eyes narrowing, eyebrows coming down and meeting, face tensing.

Hermione blinked. "Are you trying to _glare_ at me?"

"Yes."

Hermione seemed to consider and discard being angry. "Work on it."

Ginny studiously bent over her food, trying to ignore the buzzing in her ears…

Lessons that day were difficult, since she kept getting distracted by the strange colors and lines that crept through her vision that no one else seemed to see. The strange clicking noises she'd almost become used to, but this was something else. Still, it didn't seem dangerous. It was actually kind of nice, like her own personal fire-works show.

It only became problematic a few times.

As she'd waved her wand to try the charm Professor Flitwick was having them practice, her vision seemed to blur. A riot of colors flashed through her vision, almost blinding her, much harder to ignore than the insect-like chittering in her ears. She lost her concentration, the spell flickering out in a decidedly unspectacular and unremarkable fashion not worthy of any particular notice.

Ginny stared about wildly, even as her vision rapidly returned to normal, though random bursts of lines and colors continued to flicker through it, a bit more often than before. The heck…?

........................................

_One month, two weeks, and about 4 days ago…_

Raven was calmly walking across a rooftop, taking care not to damage the tiles with his boots and trying to pinpoint exactly where he was on his map. The simple street map hadn't exactly been rendered with nocturnal overhead navigation in mind, and as a result it had been heavily annotated with little additions detailing things like visible landmarks, relative elevation levels, and other features of a more useful nature. He'd slowly been getting used to London's layout, to the point were he'd been fairly confident– if he felt things like confidence, that is– of his ability to discern his relative location, but he must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because he was completely disoriented.

Perplexed, Raven approached the dark-skirted teenaged girl who was kneeling on the lee side of a chimney stack and looking down on the streets below.

"Excuse me–" was all he managed to say, before the girl gave a startled yelp and began randomly flinging barely coherent blobs of red that toed the line between matter and energy.

Raven darted sideways, using the roof's slope to his advantage as his hand flipped up in a warding gesture, summoning a shield of dark energy before him. The gesture wasn't _strictly_ necessary, but it was a mnemonic device taught to him in his youth, and his instincts had never really outgrown it. In times when his powers, instinct and training moved faster than conscious thought– such as, say, if he were suddenly attacked– the gestures made themselves known.

His powers quickly folded up his map and tucked them into his belt as he turned the dodge into a slide, slightly… _distressed_, he supposed, at the damage his footwear was doing to the tiles. His movement's changed to a dangerous hopping lunge that should _never_ be employed by people who'd only heard of it, a combination of agility and partial-telekinetic influence causing his foot to land at the very edge of the roof, before his leg kicked off and he somersaulted off, his movements also telekinetically guided as he tried to dive into the darkness below, into cover and away from the faint illumination found at rooftop level.

Darkness had just obscured his vision when there was a cry of "Hold it right there!" and something grabbed his ankles, abruptly pulling him back up and into the light as he dangled upside-down.

He found himself facing a pale-skinned girl, almost the same grayish shade as Raven himself, glaring at him upside-down in what he could vaguely interpret as an expression of righteousness. At least, he supposed it was. Her hands glowed an intense neon red, the same shade as the rather bulbous, cartoon-y hands currently holding him aloft, the same shade as her eyes. "Who are you?" she demanded, hands clenched into fists. "What do you think you're doing up here at this time of night? Talk!"

Raven composed his features into what he hoped was a reassuring smile, his palms open in the commonly accepted gesture of surrender. "Good evening," he said as politely as he could, which was, reportedly, a lot. "I was wondering if you could help me. I seem to have gotten lost and was wondering if you knew what area this was."

She– Argent– blinked at him. "What?"

Having consumed all not-confrontational avenues of conversation, Raven sought for some other topic to continue along. He'd been told compliments were always received well, especially among females of the species. "Also, you have very nice eyes," he added. "I believe this is the traditional misunderstanding between un-introduced superheroes that results in a short but possibly highly destructive battle wherein we hurl accusations and incorrect assumptions at each other that semi-justify our own belligerence. For the sake of expediency and the reduction of property damage, however, would you accept my surrender so we can converse as civilized individuals?"

The red-headed superheroine blinked at him. "What?"

Raven raised a finger in a gesture for patience and reached into his belt for a pair of handcuffs. Snapping them on his wrists, he held his cuffed hands before him. "I surrender. Please don't hurt me."

Argent's eyebrow twitched.

It twitched again later as they sat across from each other at a Starbucks, as Raven handed her the cappuccino she'd asked for while he helped himself to a cup of tea. She looked down at the paper cup in front of her, next to the waffle on a plate, then back up at the boy, who was holding out his pinky in a manner that managed to be either effeminate or affected and pretentious. "You're Miss Manners," she accused.

Raven tilted his head, his hair framing his face and domino mask in a not-unflattering manner at the gesture. "Excuse me?" he said.

"Miss Manners," Argent repeated. "The new player who's been leaving polite notes and thoughtfully concise reports at her– er, their– crime scenes."

Behind the mask, Raven blinked. "_Miss_ Manners?" he said. "What gave people the impression I was female?"

Argent shrugged. "I don't know. It just… didn't seem in character for a guy to write it. It was… too polite."

Raven nodded, accepting the words. "Ah, I see. In future I will attempt to be less polite."

Silence descended. Argent took a sip, and washed it down with a bite. Raven sipped his tea. Late night people stared, pointed, and took pictures.

"How are the murder investigations progressing?" Raven asked politely.

Argent made a face, glaring up at him, waffle in her mouth. She bit it off, chewed, swallowed, and said, "I'm sorry, that's privileged information and none of your damn business."

"Ah. My apologies, then," Raven said. "I did not mean to pry. As an unknown element, I understand you reticence in confiding in me, though I thought the question was worth the attempt."

A slightly muffled "Miss Manners" emanated from the general direction of Argent's throat as she took another drink.

"Would it affect the investigation if I informed you that there is a strong possibility it was a demon that committed the double homicide a few nights ago where there was an incident in which shots were fired?" Raven said helpfully. "I believe you were there with Inspector… Destrale, was it?"

Argent went still, hands clasped around her cup. Raven noted the contoured cover had been pried up slightly, and that the liquid appeared to still at a high temperature. "That wasn't in the papers," Argent said slowly.

"No, it wasn't," Raven agreed. "Incidentally, I was not shot, if that makes any difference."

She glared at him. "What were you doing around the area of a crime scene?" she said, voice accusatory.

"I was familiarizing myself with the layout of the city, having only recently arrived," Raven said, finishing his tea and setting the cup aside. "I reached the scene by listening to the police bands, thinking that I would be of some assistance somehow. I believe that is the expected and accepted _modus operandi_ of a superhero."

She glared at him.

"Do you wish me to accompany to the nearest police station?" Raven said guilelessly.

........................................

"Uh oh," Cybrog said, staring at the article his Google search had bought up.

"Hm?" Harley said, looking over his shoulder as she juggled a spoon, a can of whipped cream and a bowl. She froze. The three dropped, the bowl making a clattering sound as it bounced off the floor. "Uh oh."

"What is 'uh oh'?" Starfire asked, carrying a jar of mustard with a straw in it. She looked at the picture. "Kreb glaghk."

"She doesn't need to know about this, does she?" Cyborg said.

"No, she does not," Starfire agreed.

"Know about what?" Terra said behind them. The three jumped, and there was a crash as Cyborg fell off his chair, followed by a crack and a tickling sounds. She looked weirdly at her Tower-mates, but before she caould say anything, she looked at the monitor and froze.

"_**WHO IS THAT RED-HAIRED HUSSY AND WHAT IS SHE DOING WITH RAVEN AT A STARBUCKS?!?!?!?!?!?**_"

"Terra, please, remember we are standing on a tectonic fault line!

"My Mickey Mouse bowl!""

........................................

There is, Raven considered a bit tiredly, probably something illegal about this class.

He was fairly certain it broke some sort of safety protocol to demonstrate instantly lethal and traumatizing spells to a 4th year class. That is, a group of impressionable, possibly impulse control-deficient teenagers who might doubtless attempt to reproduce the spells they had just seen, illegal or not.

Or perhaps not. They apparently had different standards of safety within this society, unlike in non-magical areas. Still, the demonstrations were highly irresponsible.

And this was not, at all or in any way, shape or form, based on the fact that the sight of the Killing Curse's destructive green light had reminded him of some traumatic memories recovered by the Dementors. No, not at all. Definitely not!

Hermione, it seemed, also seemed to have concerns about the psychological effects of Professor Moody's demonstration. She led him and Ron towards a side passage, where Neville was standing with an expression Raven recognized as 'traumatized'. His high-pitched denials were clearly, if not a prevarication, then at least an obfuscation.

He was not sure that Professor Moody leading Neville away ostensibly to converse with him might not be cause for concern.

"What was that about?" said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.

"I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.

"I occurs to me that leaving Neville with him might not have been a good idea, if only because he has apparently managed to cause intense psychological damage to him over the course of only one class, a dubious honor that not even professor Snape has managed to achieve," Raven noted.

"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Raven as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did _Avada Kedavra_, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right—"

"Ron," Raven interrupted, much to his companions' surprise. "You are my friend and I mean no offense, but I must ask, in the most forceful terms possible: Shut the hell up."

The two's head snapped around to look at their friend, shock painted on their faces. "Harry…?" Hermione gasped.

"I apologize, but the lesson has been… taxing for me in the non-physical sense," Raven said curtly. "I am unpleasantly reminded of certain memories excavated from my mind by the Dementors last year. I would take it as a great personal favor if we could please discuss something else."

"Uh, sure mate," Ron said, more surprised than anything else.

"Thank you," Raven said. He paused, considering. Well, what else could they discuss? "How are you with your Divination Homework, Ron? Do you require any assistance?"

Hermione made a face. "I can't believe you stayed with that tripe, Harry."

"It has its applications," Raven said. "Despite Professor Trelawney's penchant for the melodramatic, there is more to Divination than predicting untimely deaths. Or timely deaths, as the case may be, depending on your perception of what is inevitable."

"Do you always need to get philosophical about that?" Ron asked, sounding resigned.

"On the nature of inevitability?" Raven said, a small smile on his lips. "Yes. Yes, I must."

........................................

"Cyril," Beryl said as she watched her childhood friend trying to install nitro-boosters onto his motorcycle. "What do you think you're doing?"

He paused ever so slightly, but continued, stoically ignoring her presence.

"I found the armor," she continued. "And the Kevlar. And the chain-mail. And the guns."

Silence. Things were tightened and adjusted.

"It's insane," she said. "For crying out loud, what do you bloody think you're doing, dressing up like some psycho-gothic English Batman?"

Cyril grabbed a screwdriver and studiously ignored her.

The sandwiches thrown at him were a bit more difficult. Not to mention wasteful…

........................................

_One month, one week, and about 3 days ago…_

Raven had been pleased– or, for the sake of linguistic accuracy, as close to it as possible– at managing to establish a basis for a working relationship with the more locally experience heroine Argent. Apparently, however, other people focused on the word 'relationship' and not 'working'.

"What," Raven said, looking at the picture and headline on the inside of the tabloid an annoyed Argent had thrust at him, "is Argven? And why is there a picture of our initial public meeting?"

Argent scowled, glaring out over the city from on top of the bridge tower they'd arranged to meet. "Oh, that's they're way of saying we're a couple. You get used to it. They made the same kind of fuss that time Supergirl came over."

Raven paused. "A couple of what?"

She stared at him. He returned the look, face completely neutral.

Apparently deciding to drop the topic, she turned back to look over the city. "Okay, if you're going to be working here, let's get one thing straight. This is _my_ city_. _You don't mess around in my city. You follow my lead and do as you're told, got that? I know this place better than you do."

"Understood," Raven said, completely cheerful, agreeable and not at all mocking.

He didn't understand why she glared at him like that at all.

........................................

It was a beautiful sunny day at the Watchtower.

Say what you'd like about working in an isolated station in one of the most dangerous working environments in the solar system, at least the view out the window is never rained out.

"He sure gets around, doesn't he," Kara idly said as she looked at the reports she, Stargirl, Zatanna and Shayera were going through.

"'Miss Manners'?" Shayera said, looking over the Kryptonian girl's shoulder and chortling. "They called him '_Miss Manners_'? They thought he was a girl?!?"

"Have you ever heard the kid talk?" Zatanna said, amused. "If all they've had from him until recently was notes, I'm not surprised. He can be pretty…" She paused, considering her words, always an important thing for someone who practiced a form of Logomancy. "…Sissy," she finished, nodding in satisfaction. "How's Terra taking it, by the way?"

"Not too well," Stargirl said. "The Titans are trying to cut her off from finding out but they're not having much luck. They're worried she might accidentally start a major earthquake. So far, nothing's gone higher than a 3 on the Richter scale, but people might start noticing soon."

"Great," Shayera muttered. "That'll be just what we need. Can you try to calm her down next time you visit to hit on Robin?"

Stargirl sniffed with affronted dignity. "I'm _not_ going down there to hit on Robin! I happen to think it's nice to be able to hang out with a bunch of people I can relate to who happen to be my age group!"

"And he has a great ass," Kara added, a slightly dreamy look on her face.

"I can't say I fault you," Zatanna said, a slightly dreamy look of her own. "If there's one thing Batman's good at, it's training his sidekicks enough so they have great asses. Hmm, Nightwing…"

"Is that deliberate, you think?" Stargirl said.

The four paused to think about it.

"He does have Batgirl," Kara pointed out. "Who, in all fairness, also has a great ass."

"Maybe he has a special training video?" Zatanna mused, eyes half-lidded. "_Bat-Buns of Steel_ or something…?

The four bowed their heads in thought. "Hmm…"

"You think he'll let us borrow it?" Shayera asked.

........................................

_Three weeks, and about six days ago…_

"Is that an owl?" Argent said, starring glowing, avian-shaped magical construct carrying a rectangular package wrapped in brown paper. It flew around Raven's head a few times before it landed on the table in front of them and dropped its package, before disappearing in a cloud of sparks.

"It appears to have been," Raven said, putting down his tea and reaching for the delivered parcel. A curving script on one side declared it was for 'Miss Manners'. "And it appears to be for me."

Argent twisted her head, seeing the designation, her lips twisting in wry amusement. "Someone has a fan," she said.

"More likely it is one of my associates attempting to elicit humor at my expense, though without malice aforethought," Raven said, before deftly generating a small utility-knife-like construct and making a small tear, before unwrapping the package. "Ah. How thoughtful." He held up the contents to Argent's line of sight. "Personalized stationary."

The red-eyed girl laughed, careful not to spill her drink as Raven put the new stationary away. Since they'd met, the Starbucks they'd taken to frequenting had gotten used to their presence, and though they didn't go there every night, they'd appeared often enough for their patronage to no longer elicit much surprise. It had been Raven's idea, a mid-patrol break to re-energize themselves and take a moment to rest, proposed with polite if novice clumsiness and clearly an attempt to try and get to know her. She'd been initially resistant to the idea, if only to assert– she admitted to herself– her dominance, but it was hard to maintain the head of stubbornness, contrariness and pseudo-testosterone in the face of the cloaked boy's near-endless politeness, courtesy, and his tendency to agree with her when she was clearly in the right without, somehow, seeming like a suck up.

Plus, he insisted on being the one to pay.

It wasn't a 'trust you with my life' sort of working relationship, but it was likely a start.

And he had never once tried to look up her skirt. Never mind she was wearing short underneath, it was the principle of the thing.

"Have there been any leads regarding Vita-man's clients?" Raven said quietly, continuing their conversation from where it left off.

Argent grimaced. "Some," she said. "The police have managed to make some arrests, but many of his buyers seem to have been really good at covering their tracks. The Hyde Formula's bad enough by itself, but some newer super-being formulas use it as a base, since it's easier to get a hold of than Venom. Following it through the criminal underground's going to be hard. Doing that's more Destrale's line than ours."

Raven nodded solemnly. "And the other matter?" he said, even more quietly.

Argent's eyes flicked around in caution. "More dead, all the same way," she said, low through clenched teeth. Her eyes narrowed. "Whoever this guy is, he's sick. He's–" she shuddered. "He keeps sending notes and… parts, to the police, though they're keeping that quiet. The media's going nuts as it is. They're calling him New Jack Ripper."

Raven frowned. "It is becoming arrogant," he said, the altered pronoun dropping into place comfortably and without fanfare. "More deaths are likely to follow."

Something inside Argent twitched, disturbed. While she and the police knew that– and very much did not like it– and had been forced to say the same before, no one had ever said it in so… detached and matter-of-fact a manner. "You're not a robot, are you?" she said suddenly. "Escaped from some sort of government lad because you became self-aware or from the future or something?"

"No," Raven said. "I'm fairly certain I'm not."

........................................

Resisting the Imperius Curse, Raven found, was surprisingly easy. He supposed his years of experience in total self-control must have been a critical factor, though it was likely Professor Moody's spell wasn't all that strong. Or it was possibly a resistance afforded by his physiology. He couldn't be sure.

He'd gotten used to his nocturnal schedule in the weeks since he'd begun operation. The difficulty had been maintaining an acceptable appearance during the mornings before his body had acclimated. Learning to rest where and when he could had been easier. Robin had, in his rather extensive letters, given him a lot of good advice born of years of experience. It had all been very useful.

It was also, he was certain, about to be put to the test.

The serial killer demon would strike again, he knew, and soon. And, likely, in some large and significant manner.

Halloween was coming.

It was a night rife in significance to many. To mundane peoples, it was a commercially and emotionally significant day. The western world saw it as a night of sweets and costumes. Spanish-influenced Catholics held it sacred as a day to remember and honor their dead. Those who dealt in magics beyond what mere wizards know celebrate it as a day of power and truce. Those from beyond this plane knew it as a time when passage between worlds was easiest. It was a time when the rules, in every and all senses, changed, just a tiny but significant bit.

Its approach sang to all that wasn't human in Raven's blood.

How much more, he wondered, would it sing to the killer's?

He neglected to patrol on the night of the arrival of the other schools involved in the Triwizard Tournament– the bond-building nature of which he still held in question– partly to conserve his strength and partly because it was likely his disappearance would be noticed that night, due to the heightened excitement and partially increased attentiveness of his fellows. He took the opportunity to track when they succumbed to unconsciousness, in preparation for the following night.

His name being drawn from the Goblet was an unexpected inconvenience.

........................................

Cyril drew the sword at his waist in a fluid, practiced motion. In the darkness, the blade glowed, reflecting off his modified and roughly assembled armor.

"Vengeance is mine," he whispered, "Sayth the Lord."

........................................

**- To be continued...**

........................................

A/N: Really, who leaves their keys conveniently located in that shade that flips down and nowadays has a flap for your driver's license? You're just _asking_ to have your car stolen…

So many superheroes have friction between them at first meeting, ego posturing, dominance showdowns…

I decided to subvert that.

I am now revealing how exactly things are different for Harry/Raven school-wise. Or trying at any rate. The superheroics seem to be giving my problems.

Poison Ivy's powers tend to wary depending how much of a plant she is, according to writers. The Batman Adventures comics shows her as having acid and/or possibly poisonous spit, chemical generation/secretion abilities, as well as plant control. Gotham Sirens as powered her up a little. My version's cobbled from that.

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


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